


all we've been through

by Chaotic_Neuteral



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: ADHD, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superpowers, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Childhood Friends, Developing Friendships, Dysfunctional Family, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mild insanity (?), Miscommunication, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Character Death, Protective Older Brothers, References to Depression, Secrets, Self-Harm, Sleepy Bois Inc Angst, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Tommy-centric, Whump, i hate myself for writing this, no beta we die like wilbur, past trauma, religious trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 37
Words: 52,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29206350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaotic_Neuteral/pseuds/Chaotic_Neuteral
Summary: Tommy has been a "problem child" his entire life. He's lived in more foster homes than he can count on both hands, and escaped the system at thirteen years old. Now, at sixteen, he's thrown right back in, shuttled off to a middle-of-nowhere town. On the surface, it looks perfectly ordinary, but Tommy can tell there's more than meets the eye. Lucky he's always had a good head for facts.---A group of children race through the streets, cold and hungry and alone, trying to escape both the police and their toxic households. They struggle to keep their heads above water, especially as they discover that trouble follows them.
Relationships: Cara | CaptainPuffy & Badboyhalo & Skeppy & Phil Watson, Floris | Fundy & Sam | Awesamdude & Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & Eret, Tommyinnit & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson & Technoblade
Comments: 360
Kudos: 667





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by "oh, we can be heroes" by Reya0907
> 
> I 100% suggest reading it before or after reading this, if you haven't already! It's made me cry multiple times and I want to pass on the pain.

Tommy glowered at the woman, trying to inject as much venom into his gaze as possible. She looked overall unfazed, clacking away at her computer just like before. He sighed, slumping down in his chair. Just a day before he’d been living in his own place, with a job, and now he was sitting in some adoption agency, waiting for the verdict.

“Well, it looks like you’re quite the flight risk, Tommy.” The woman leaned back in her chair, raising one eyebrow. “Jumped around quite a bit, I see.”

Tommy narrowed his eyes. How had she found his file so quickly? He’d refused to give up his name, even to talk. She had tricked him into following her inside the agency, and then locked him in and said she “knew his type.” Whatever that meant.

“Not a big talker?” The woman shrugged. “It’s alright, my kids aren’t always big on it either. You can call me Mrs. Cara or Puffy, whatever works for you.”

Tommy bit back a laugh. “Puffy? What kind of a name is that?”

“It’s a nickname,” Puffy seemed pleased that Tommy had taken her bait. He frowned again, being careful to not react any more than he already had. “I find the kids like to call me that, though I’m not sure about you.”

Tommy just shrugged. He wasn’t falling into that trap again. Puffy huffed, leaning forward again. “So you tend to run? Bad luck with finding homes, or just rebellious?” She clearly didn’t expect an answer. For a moment there was silence as Puffy read, then she made a quiet noise of acknowledgement. “Ah, bad luck. Seen far too much of that in my day.”

Tommy slumped further down. Where was he going? A group home? Foster system? Maybe he’d be fostered right out the gate. That would be nightmarish. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to read the room. Puffy seemed a little anxious, but about what? There was no way to tell.

“I’m going to make a call.” Puffy’s talking snapped Tommy from his thoughts. He jumped a little before closing his eyes again. She could do whatever she wanted, the woman was grown for god’s sake. He sighed loudly, but made sure he was listening in as the phone rang. She obviously wanted him to hear what she had to say. Rather old tactic, if Tommy was being honest.

“Hello!” Her voice became brighter the moment the person picked up. Maybe she was married? A male sounding voice responded. Tommy inwardly groaned. She was definitely married. “Hi, yes, I know, it’s been far too long. How are the boys?” There was a muffled response, and Puffy laughed. “Well, I suppose that’s true.” She paused again. “Yes, I’m afraid so. I wish I had more time to call just for fun, but I need a favor.”

Tommy held his breath. He could figure out where this was going. She wanted to foster him herself. Easy way to take care of a kid like him, have all his information at her fingertips. He could kiss freedom goodbye.

“I want you to take him in. Everyone else is full, and I know you’re equipped to handle it.” She waited for a response, then sighed. “No, I know, I know, but that was an entirely different idea. He needs someone like you, alright? I can explain more later, if you’d like. Please.”

Tommy held his breath. Would the man decline? Did Tommy want him to decline? The more Puffy spoke, the less sure he was that she was married. He stared at the wall, trying to puzzle out what could be happening. 

The smile on Puffy’s voice when she next spoke was evident. “Yes, of course. Thank you so much. We’ll be there in around two hours, you know the traffic. Thank you again, thank you, you’re the best!” She tapped her screen enthusiastically and grinned at Tommy. “You just hit the jackpot, kid.”

***

Tommy blinked slowly. Where was he? He jumped when he realized he was sitting in a car. He glanced quickly to the side and found Puffy driving, humming along to something on the radio. “Wh-?”

“Oh! You’re up.” Puffy turned down the volume and smiled, not taking her eyes off the road. “Not the best timing, we’re still about thirty minutes out, but it’ll be nice to have some company. How are you feeling?”

“I… what happened?” Tommy didn’t remember anything after Puffy getting off the phone. Had he been drugged? He couldn’t have been that tired, there was no way he just fell asleep out of nowhere.

As if reading his mind, Puffy shrugged. “As crazy as it sounds, you just fell asleep. We climbed into the car, you must remember that, and you were out almost right away.”

“No, I- I don’t.” Tommy stared down at his lap. So much for not talking. Puffy didn’t speak again. Tommy huffed and turned to look out the window. He was greeted by basically nothing. Miles and miles of it. Long, tall grass swayed in the breeze. Farm land? No, it didn’t look put together enough. “Where are we?”

“It’s not owned by any of us, I think this is a wildlife protection area. Nobody actually farms out here, we all just appreciate the scenery.”

“Ugly scenery.” Tommy tried to rile her up, make her snap at him. The atmosphere was dense, choking. He needed reassurance that she wasn’t waiting for something really bad to get mad at him for. Puffy just hummed, not taking the challenge. Fine, she could be that way. Tommy frowned, crossing his arms. Two could play that game.

They sat in silence until they pulled up into a small town. Little grocery store, a gas station, and two schools on the same street, evidently elementary and high school. If there was a middle school, it wasn’t on the same road. He counted six or so small shops on what appeared to be the main road. Tommy carefully watched the small suburban houses roll by, waiting for the one they’d pull up to, stomach twisted in knots.

They came up to it all too soon. The car slowed and immediately Tommy’s eyes were darting over the house, trying to see what lay ahead for him. There were no children’s toys on the lawn. No cars were parked out front. The paint on the large front porch was slightly peeling, but nothing else seemed amiss. The place didn’t look lived-in so far, but the inside could tell a whole other story. 

Tommy glanced at Puffy and jumped when he realized she had already climbed out of the car. Cheeks burning, he followed. There were no bags to grab, so he awkwardly followed her to the door. She put a soothing hand on his shoulder and nodded reassuringly.

“It’ll be alright. He’s a good guy,” Puffy promised. For some reason, her words genuinely did calm his nerves, at least a little. She seemed to see it on his face, and grinned, turning and knocking on the green door.

It opened almost right away, and Tommy’s nerves were back again. A man stood in the doorway. Not imposing in the least, but that could change the second Puffy walked away. He smiled, holding out a hand. Tommy stared at it like it was roadkill. Just because he was staying with the man didn’t mean he had to be polite. He didn’t ask for it, anyway. The stranger coughed and retracted it awkwardly. “Do you wanna come inside?”

“I have the time. Come on, Tommy.” Puffy herded him inside, not giving Tommy a choice. She shut the door firmly, and he found himself already a little shaky. Before he realized it, his hands were fluttering with nerves at his side. Puffy glanced at them, eyebrow half raised, and Tommy swiftly changed the action into adjusting his shirt. 

“So, Tommy, this is Phil. Phil, this is Tommy.”

Tommy nodded, forcing himself to look up. His eyes slid off Phil’s face, but managed to catch a questioning look being passed. Puffy shook her head, almost imperceptibly. Tommy narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Not only were they talking about him like he wasn’t there, they were doing it with glances. Puffy seemed to notice his agitation and patted him gently on the shoulder. 

“Follow me to the kitchen, but please take off your shoes.” Phil smiled at Tommy, who couldn’t help but frown a little. Take off his shoes? He wasn’t fully used to having to take off his shoes at the door. Oh well. He pulled them off and followed Puffy’s lead, though he was paying more attention to the layout of the house than he was the actual route they were taking.

He spied a staircase with a hallway at the top. Any bedrooms were probably upstairs. Idly, Tommy wondered if he would share a room. Probably would, judging by the size of the house. He stopped just in time, as Puffy paused directly in front of him. Tommy looked ahead, and found they were already in the kitchen.

“Care to introduce yourself?” Phil nodded to Tommy.

Tommy shook his head, eyes plunging to the floor. He didn’t care much for talking to new foster parents, especially when he didn’t think he would last at the house. Here, in such a small town? He would be gone by the next week, tops. He felt Puffy put a hand on his shoulder. Tommy shook it off, resisting the urge to step away as well.

“I can do it.” Puffy seemed almost disappointed. Good. “Tommy jumped homes a lot from the ages nine to twelve. He’s been living on the streets since then, I found him in a pretty well put-together shelter. Diagnosed with ADHD and high-functioning anxiety, but I’m pretty sure he has a slightly more severe form of it by now. I suggest taking him to Halo for a proper analysis, goodness knows what new disorders he may have developed out there.”

She was talking like Tommy wasn’t there at all. He scowled. All the adults ended up being the same. Phil would probably baby the shit out of him for the first few days, then realize that it wasn’t getting him anywhere, and end up beating the snot out of him. Or maybe he’d just stop caring. Tommy wasn’t sure which was worse.

“Well, I can see if his schedule is open for sure. When do you think he’ll be alright with going back to school?” Phil’s words seemed almost like a challenge. ‘If you won’t talk, I’ll talk right over your head,’ it seemed to say. Tommy refused to take offense.

“Depends on how he adapts.”

“Right, right.” Tommy could basically hear Phil nodding slowly. “Well, that’s all I need to know. Would you like to stay longer, or are you still as busy as always?”

“Still busy.” Puffy was obviously frowning, and Tommy could tell she was actually disappointed she wasn’t free. That, or she was a fantastic actor. He didn’t care enough to think more about it.

“Alright, well. We should schedule something sometime. All of us parents, like how we used to.” His tone carried a hint of longing. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“It would.” Puffy was already backing out to the door. “I’ll see you soon! Call me to schedule if you’re not crazy busy with the kids tonight. See you!”

Tommy counted thirty seconds before the front door closed.

Phil turned to smile at him, and suddenly Tommy wasn’t sure at all of the atmosphere in the room. He didn’t respond to Phil’s attempt at friendliness, instead opting to introduce himself properly. “I’m Tommy. Don’t worry about me being in your hair much. It’s nice to meet you.” He felt oddly choked up, more nervous than he’d been in weeks. Even when he lost his job and apartment (that he had been secretly renting from someone else), he didn’t feel so scared. Maybe it had just been so long since his future was entirely in someone else’s hands.

“I don’t mind if you’re in my hair, I like spending time around people. Want a tour of the house? My kids are getting home from practice soon, so you’ll get to meet them. They’re both older than you, but I swear they’ve never acted their age.” Phil chuckled, and Tommy felt a pang of sadness. The man seemed so fond of his kids, in a way Tommy had never seen from any of his past guardians, biological or not.

He followed Phil down the hallway.“Could you just show me where I’ll sleep? Or do I sleep on the couch?”

“Of course you’re not sleeping on the couch.” Phil seemed surprised Tommy would even think that, but it wasn’t far fetched at all. Puffy sure had sent him to a winner. “I’ve got a bedroom still set up.”

That wasn’t lost on Tommy. “Still?”

He could almost hear Phil wince. “Yeah, um... I had another kid, but he preferred to live outside this house, so he’s living with his younger brother a block or two down.”

Tommy nodded slowly. That was definitely a red flag. He slowed his pace, still just watching the back of Phil’s shoes to make sure he didn’t run right into him like he had earlier with Puffy. Phil slowed, and then stopped in front of a door. Tommy awkwardly shifted his backpack, waiting for Phil to open it.

“This is your room, kiddo. Make yourself at home.” Phil pushed open the door and stepped aside, letting Tommy walk in. Second floor, one window (probably big enough to crawl out of), dresser, small desk, and… Tommy peeked back… a lock on the door. Not too bad.

Phil, who had been standing in the doorway, cleared his throat. “Well, dinner’s usually around six, if you’re up for joining us. The boys go to the high school, that’s where you’ll end up when you’re ready. Since it’s Wednesday right now, you won’t be seeing much of them for a few days, but we’re not that social of a family either way. Any questions?”

“Any rules?” Tommy managed to look at Phil’s knees this time. Baby steps.

“Well, no sneaking out, tell me if you need help with anything, no illegal activities, take care of yourself, that one includes taking showers, eating, drinking water, sleeping, et cetera. Just don’t do anything crazy and we’ll be fine.”

Tommy nodded, and didn’t say anything else. He listened as Phil sighed just a little, then turned to walk away. He jumped up and closed the door, making sure Phil was entirely gone before locking it. He stashed his bag under the bed and sat down at the desk. What could he do? By this time tomorrow, he’d be entirely gone. Just needed time to sneak down and grab snacks and money. After all, Phil would lose way less if Tommy just took some stuff than he would if Tommy stayed and he had to buy food, pay for the extra electricity and water.

He sat for a few minutes in silence, listening for any sounds from downstairs. It seemed minimally creaky, which would help him in the future, but that also meant he didn’t know where Phil was. Once or twice he heard humming, but only as Phil passed by the bottom of the stairs. 

Tommy almost found himself relaxing before he heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so short! this chapter was supposed to be a single night, without mentioning names or going into much detail, so i wasn't able to get that much writing from it. the rest will be much longer, promise! :3
> 
> *this is a time skip to the past! you'll learn which characters these are in the next few chapters, but i'll say that this is six years in the past. so the ages of these kids are nine to twelve, while in the "current" chapters they are sixteen to eighteen!

The night was cold and rainy. People walked by without sparing so much as a passing glance to the shadowy alley next to them. They would go home to their nice, warm houses with their loving families or their pets or their friends and not know who they passed to get there.

Five small children, huddled in the dark and soaked to the bone. They swapped terrified glances even in the inky black of night, not daring to whisper of how they ended up where they did. Luck drew them together, or something close to it. The youngest of them, just scraping ten years old, was crying, leaned up against a boy not much older. The oldest, at twelve, was hunched in the very back of the alley, willing himself to not cry.

None of them spoke of how they met, or why they were outside on such a night. Some things were best discussed in the morning. 

They stayed like that, sitting fearfully in silence, until dawn broke and the city once again bustled with life.


	3. Chapter 3

Phil jumped up when he heard the car doors slam, jogging out to the driveway. He had to catch Wilbur and Techno before they properly came inside. 

“Hey dad. Everything okay?” Wilbur pulled his guitar out of the back seat. “Thanks, Sam, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No problem, dude.” Sam gave a little salute and pulled away, leaving just Wilbur, Techno, and Phil in the driveway. Techno passed his drumsticks from hand to hand, like he was nervous. Did he already know? Phil sighed.

“Puffy dropped off a new kid today. His name’s Tommy.”

“With us?” Wilbur sounded shocked. Honestly, it was for good reason. Phil nodded, making Wilbur groan with annoyance. “On such short notice, too?”

“We’re the only house with space left. Apparently she found him last night, living out on the streets. Dunno how long he’s been there, he won’t really talk to me, but he’s a serious flight risk.” Phil leaned against the side of the house, watching his sons share a look.

“Does he know?” Techno’s voice came out a little too high. He cleared his throat. “I mean, about the thing. Does he know?”

Phil shook his head and watched as Techno and Wilbur groaned in unison, slumping over. “And you’re not to tell him.”

“We can’t… what level?” Wilbur’s voice was hushed, like he was half holding his breath. “We can usually tell new people.”

“Sapnap-level. And I’m talking about Sapnap now, not before he knew. He could end up being Dream or George’s level once he learns.” Phil’s stomach tied itself into a knot. “And he has no clue. Which is why we’re not telling him. There’s no knowing how fragile or strong he is at this point, so we need to learn more about him first.”

Wilbur nodded slowly, making eye contact with Techno. “...Right. Are we allowed to meet him, though?”

Phil nodded as well, opening the door wider. “He’s taking Tubbo’s old room, so you’ll be close to him, Wil. Mind keeping an ear open for any odd noises? He could easily run in the night.”

“Of course.” Wilbur followed him inside and set down his guitar down by the table. Techno tossed his drumsticks on the counter and kicked off his shoes, jogging up the stairs a little bit behind his family.

Phil knocked a few times, and Tommy answered with a short, “Come in.”

He pulled the door open and found Tommy… sitting at his desk? There was nothing in front of him, and nothing around him. Phil furrowed his brow. Oh well, all kids had their oddities. “Hey, Tommy, these are my sons, Wilbur and Techno.”

He turned and looked pointedly at Wilbur, who raised one hand. “Hey, I’m Wilbur. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Techno.” Techno nodded, keeping his hands in his pockets. Phil couldn’t help but notice how Tommy’s eyes slid right off people’s faces like water off a duck’s back. It looked almost painful for him to sit still, right leg bouncing almost unnoticeably. 

“Hi.” Tommy’s voice was quiet, and sounded like it hadn’t been used recently, even though Phil knew it had. “Nice to meet you as well.”

When Wilbur looked to Phil, confused, he could only shrug in response. “Alright, Tommy, we’ll leave you to it.”

He shut the door and Wilbur was immediately on him. “He was freaking out, Phil, that entire time.”

Phil frowned. “Was he? He just seemed awkward to me.”

“I could hear his heartbeat going a million miles an hour. Either he’s freakishly fast or he was really nervous. Care to spare a guess?”

“It could be either,” Phil answered dryly. “But for our sake, I hope he was nervous.”

Techno shifted awkwardly. “What do you want us to do? Talk to him, invite him out with us? When is he going to school?”

Phil started to walk down the stairs slowly, Techno and Wilbur following close behind. “I say leave him be, at least for now. He deserves some quiet, I’m hoping he’ll warm up to us later on. He’ll be going to school in a week or two, so don’t worry about having another person to find driving arrangements for.”

“Just in time for the bus to break down, too.” Wilbur groaned when they got to the kitchen. “It’s such a pain, having to hitch rides home.”

“Not my fault you chose after-school activities. Though I am grateful. Wil, guitar upstairs please.” Phil started busying himself with tidying up, a stress habit. “I could sit after school and grade papers, but I much prefer doing boring things at home, and it’s not like I give you guys paper quizzes.”

Techno huffed, sitting down at the table and pulling out his phone. “Yeah, I know. Wil’s just being a baby. I don’t mind hitching rides for now.”

Wilbur flipped him off before jogging upstairs with his guitar. Phil wet a sponge and started scrubbing the counters, trying to squash down his anxiety over the whole situation. He’d have to watch his words around the new member of the house, and make up a whole new curriculum for the class. 

“What should I tell everyone? The basics, level, any of that?” Techno paused his typing, looking up at Phil.

“Just tell them what I told you. Er, minus the level bit. They don’t need to know quite what he could be capable of. For now, just give them his name and tell them he doesn’t know much, but he’s living with us anyway. Sound good?” He scrubbed extra hard over a stubborn spill. 

“Yeah.” Techno tapped out a message and the sending noise echoed annoyingly loud in the suddenly silent kitchen. “Hey, do you want me to have anyone come over this weekend to socialize him? I think Purpled is free, he’d be good to have around.”

“Depends on how Tommy’s doing by then.” 

“Right.” Techno stood, picking up his drumsticks and some sheet music that had been laying on the table since the night before. “I need to catch up on English work now. See you later, dad.”

“Right. See ya.”

\---

Tommy frowned when he heard Wilbur start strumming in the next room over. There had been something definitely off about the two teenagers, but Tommy couldn’t quite put his finger on it. They had a kind of aura, almost. It didn’t help that as soon as they’d closed the door they all started whispering frantically. Tommy couldn’t hear them for a moment, but his ears adjusted just in time to catch the end of their conversation.

One of them, Techno, if Tommy was correct, had asked if they should try and get Tommy to socialize. Phil answered, but the sound was a little more far away, and a dictionary fell off Tommy’s shelf at the perfect moment, completely breaking his focus.

He definitely didn’t trust this family. He hadn’t from the very beginning, but now it was just more clear that something was off. It was more than a gut feeling, but Tommy wasn’t sure what it was. Something was up. He didn’t know why or how, but not everything was as it seemed.

Not too long later, Phil called down everyone for dinner. Tommy didn’t bother going. He might as well not try to socialize. Five or so minutes later, he heard someone coming up the stairs. Probably Phil, coming to reprimand him for not showing up. It would just give Tommy more reason to leave. But instead of yelling at him, Phil set down something quietly and went away again.

Tommy waited thirty painstaking seconds before opening the door. It was a plate with foil covering it, and a fork poking out to the side. He picked it up, slightly confused as to why Phil had given him food. He hadn’t gone down for a reason. Tommy tiptoed across the hall, dumped the contents of the plate in the trash, and set it back outside his room in the same position it had been in before. 

He listened at the top of the stairs for a moment, trying to make out the conversation going on below, but it quickly turned to clinking forks and talk of grades. Tommy sighed and went back into his room. Might as well scope it out properly.

He poked around, appreciating the lack of creaky floorboards, and peered out the window. He was right above the overhang for the side of the wrap-around porch, so he’d definitely lucked out. Tommy looked under the bed… big enough to fit. He breathed a miniscule sigh of relief. He had somewhere to hide, at least. He checked for any cameras and secret compartments, but there seemed to be none. 

When he heard water running and laughter coming from downstairs, he knew everyone else was washing the dishes. Tommy frowned, sitting back down at the desk to think. They seemed like a genuinely nice family, at least on the surface. Most of the houses he’d lived in (unless he was mentally exaggerating how they had been) had children who shunned their siblings and defied their parents. If both Techno and Wilbur were working with Phil, then they were working against him. Tommy couldn’t trust a single one of them, much less get attached.

He wasn’t sure how far the nearest city was, but it couldn’t have been more than an hour’s drive. That wouldn’t be horrible to walk, he’d definitely done worse. From there he could work for enough money to get a ticket out of there, figure it out as he went, and so on.

Soon enough he heard two people, presumably Wilbur and Techno, come back up the stairs. A moment later there was more soft guitar filtering through the walls. Tommy sighed. Even if he wasn’t staying, it seemed like a decently calm place.

Well, at least for now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realize how confusing this might be lmao hold on
> 
> there are TWO plot lines. they don't connect. one of them is, as i've mentioned, several years in the past. the chapters switch off. theoretically, yeah, you could read only one plot line by skipping every other chapter but pls dont lmao the planning for this fic took me two weeks

The children sat silently in the same alley as the night before. Plenty of tears had been shed, but by morning light they were all dry. Names were swapped and two of their little group were sent to go find or steal some food. It didn’t matter where they got it, really, because everyone was hungry.

When Fundy and Niki came back, Wilbur jumped up, having been the first to see them. Immediately he knew something was wrong. Niki was sniffling, holding a hand over her cheek, and Fundy was white as a ghost. “What happened? Are you two okay?”

“Sh-she hit me,” Niki said quietly. “The woman at the store.”

Wilbur tugged her close, resting his head on hers. He’d decided he was going to protect Niki after the night before, when she fell asleep at eight in the morning after crying into his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” He shot a glare at Fundy, whose eyes were shining with unshed tears.

“Guys.” His voice was shaky and unsure. Fundy looked like he might collapse. “I know this sounds bad, but we need to run, and we need to do it right now.”

Immediately Techno was up, Sam closely following. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Fundy shook, glancing behind him like he thought someone was after him. “I-- I don’t know.” He started crying for real, tears making tracks in the thin layer of dirt on his cheeks. “N-Niki said I disappeared when the wom-woman got mad at us.”

Sam froze. “You what?”

“He was there one second, and gone the next. You have to believe me, Wil, I saw it! The woman did too, it startled her and that’s how we got out.” Niki pushed away, looking between Wilbur and Fundy like they were playing a game of tennis.

“I don’t…. I don’t not believe you. It’s just kind of crazy.” Wilbur rubbed the back of his neck, turning to Techno, who shook his head.

“That’s not possible.”

“But it happened!” Fundy’s voice was raw. “I looked down at my hands and they were gone! Please believe us, we both saw it and so did the lady!” 

Wilbur made eye contact with Sam, who looked conflicted. He came to a decision for the group. “Alright. Let’s go. Does anyone have anything they want to bring?”

\---

Niki couldn’t help but stick close to Fundy, even after she noticed the hurt glances Wilbur was sending her. Her brain was still running a billion miles an hour, trying to figure out what had just happened. She hadn’t lied - Fundy really had just blinked out. One second there, the next completely invisible. She’d screamed, and so had the woman, and in the flash Niki was bolting out the door, hearing Fundy’s footsteps close behind her. 

They’d gotten a block or two before Fundy reappeared. Niki had been suspicious, and poked his arm to make sure he wasn’t a ghost or something. Her hand didn’t go through him, instead hit fabric. Fundy looked at her, and they fell into a hug, shaking.

“Don’t do that again,” She had whispered.

“I don’t want to.”

Now she was trudging alongside him as the sun dipped lower in the sky. Wilbur hadn’t entirely given up on hanging around her, though, and kept trying to initiate conversation. For a few minutes they’d talked about regular things, but the topic shifted with one bitter comment from Sam, and the group fell silent.

None of them wanted to address why they were all out on the streets, aimlessly wandering with nowhere to go. Niki started to think about it- and immediately shoved her train of thought in a different direction. “Where should we stay tonight?”

“Another alley, probably,” Techno grumbled. Niki groaned, her back was still horribly sore from last night. Maybe they could all work out a way to sleep more comfortably, like making a pile or circle or something. It might conserve body heat as well.

“Should we find one now?” Fundy glanced up. “It looks like it’ll rain.”

Sam gestured to an overpass, where there was space for people to sleep underneath. It usually had few tents or people underneath it, but on this night it was blessedly empty. “What do we think of sleeping down here?”

Niki nodded, and the others followed suit. They climbed up the small stone incline under the bridge just in time, as the rain started coming down almost as soon as they were under cover. Niki breathed a sigh of relief and leaned into the nearest person. Whoever it was patted her head softly.

Tears pricked her eyes as Niki remembered all the times her own mother had done the same, and shoved away. She looked back to see a hurt expression on Wilbur’s face. “Oh, no, Wil, I’m sorry! It was just- my mom, she used to-”

Wilbur made a sad noise and drew her close again. Niki clutched at his shirt, trying to hold back tears until she felt Wilbur shake with his own. “Me too. I- me too.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if you've got any questions abt the story/guesses as to how it'll end, feel free to share/ask!

Tommy waited until it had been fully silent for almost an hour before going downstairs. He assumed Phil’s room was on the upper floor, judging by the number of doors, so he decided to visit downstairs first. He glanced under each person’s door, finding the lights all off. With a sigh of relief, he tiptoed down the steps.

The downstairs was alright, if Tommy was being honest. A small living room with a fireplace, a kitchen and dining room, and a bathroom. It wasn’t exactly spacious but it had a find of homey charm to it that Tommy had almost missed. Whether or not a place truly felt like home, it was nice to see a place that wasn’t his own apartment, with its cardboard furniture and no electricity. Well, not his anymore. Someone was bound to have moved in since he got evicted.

Tommy shook free of his thoughts and looked for the pantry. He found it quickly enough, and flicked on the kitchen light. He pulled out the foods he knew would be filling enough to eat instead of full meals, but not too fattening. He closed the door silently and turned.

Tommy bit back a scream when he saw there was someone behind him. He almost dropped all the food, but managed to keep it in his hands. Who was it out of the family he was living with? Wilbur? Techno? Phil? Judging by height, it was either Techno or Wilbur, which was only a partial relief. He could make out their face just a little, and from what he could see they looked terrifying. He shrank in on himself slightly.

"What are you doing?" Techno groaned, rubbing his eyes. Tommy winced. Techno had a strange... aura, if that was the word, since Tommy had first met him. Maybe it was just the atmosphere, but distrust hung between them like a thick fog. "Hello? Answer the question."

Tommy blinked. "I was...."

"Put it back." Techno's voice was monotone. "He'll feed you, and if you like to eat extra you can just come get it when you want it."

Tommy repressed the urge to scoff, worried Techno might hit him. He probably didn't know what it was like at all, he was the type to always have been given anything in life. He likely didn't know what it was like to go hungry. "I'd prefer to find that out myself, thanks." He tried to push past, but Techno blocked his path.

"That wasn't a request. Put it back."

Tommy could help but flinch at the tone of voice Techno had used. He wasn't going to let his pride be squashed down so easily, though, so he stood tall again. "And I wasn't kidding. I'll put it back when I know I'll be able to eat in this house."

Techno stepped back to block Tommy's path. "You'll be able to eat. Promise. Just put the damn food back. It takes forever to convince Phil to get snacks like this, and I'm not letting you hoard all of them."

Tommy's face burned with shame. Did he really think Tommy was just taking the food because it looked good? "I didn't just take it because I like how it tastes, dumbass. I'm not as stupid of a kid as you think I am."

"Oh, you fucking-"

"Lay off him, Tech." Wilbur flicked on the light. "Let the kid have a little breathing room. Here, Tommy, take half of that. You can get more when you run out, alright? We won't eat it all."

Tommy still didn't trust Wilbur... but his tone of voice was definitely more trustworthy. "...fine. But if I starve it's not my fucking fault."

\---

"The hell was that, Wilbur?" Techno whirled on his brother the second Tommy had gone back up to his room. "I had it under control!"

"Sure you did." Wilbur hopped up on the counter. "You do realize he had a reason for taking food behind our backs at night, right? You used to do the exact same thing. He's scared he won't get to eat, so he's stockpiling."

Techno kicked at the corner of a mat, scowling. "I still had it."

"Whether or not he was scared enough of you to put it away, which he clearly wasn't, isn't important. What's important is that he feels safe enough in this house to not need to do that. If he needs to secretly take food for a few weeks, so be it. The kid needs his space."

"You sound like dad," Techno groused. "But I suppose you're right."

"Let him breathe for a bit, yeah?" Wilbur jumped down from the counter. "Soon enough he'll be sitting with the rest of us and kicking your sorry ass at video games." He couldn't help letting a little bit of fun creep into his tone. Techno looked up to start arguing with him, but Wilbur was already jogging down the hall.

"Oh, you fucking-"

\---

Tommy sat up in his room, burning with shame. It felt like bugs were crawling over his skin, and he most certainly did not like it. The window was open as far as it could go, and he was lying flat on his back on the still-made bed. He covered his face with both hands, sighing deeply as to not make noise. Techno and Wilbur were surely asleep, he could go back down...

But the look on Techno's face, even shrouded by darkness, had been bone-chilling. Tommy didn't want to cross him again. He couldn't help but feel there was something about Techno that he was hiding. That look didn't come from nowhere.

But that was an issue for another night. Tommy rolled over, finally tucking himself under the covers, and fell into a fitful sleep.

\---

Phil yawned, morning light washing into the room. He'd managed to sleep in, that was nice. He slid into the slippers sitting by his bedside and rubbed his eyes, walking downstairs as he trailed one hand along the wall. The smell of coffee and pancakes hit his nose as soon as he made it to the ground floor. Phil grinned, waving at his sons. "Morning, you two. What's the occasion?"

"Just felt like it." Wilbur smiled back, but it looked tight and a little forced. Phil's own smile faltered.

"Did something happen?"

"Well, I mean..." Techno and Wilbur exchanged a look. "Kind of."

Phil gave them a 'go on' gesture, accepting a steaming mug of coffee from Wilbur.

"I went downstairs to get a glass of water last night and found Tommy rummaging through the pantry, taking food to stockpile in his room." Techno held up one hand, knowing what Phil was going to say. "Yeah, I did the same, but the difference is that nobody noticed. Remember, it's pretty creaky down here, and Wil can hear most everything from his room. What I'm saying is..."

"We won't be able to tell where he is in the house."

"Exactly." Wilbur flipped a pancake. "Tech, could you cut some strawberries? Thanks. What I'm saying is, we should be more careful. I don't know exactly what we should do, but didn't you say he's a flight risk? We should put him somewhere where we'll be able to tell if he's run or not."

"Do either of you mind sharing your room?" Phil took a seat, blowing on the coffee to cool it. "Wil, if you don't mind having an audience when you practice then we could put him with you. Your room is also bigger."

"I'm fine with that, but could we wait a bit? I need to practice a ton, we're working on a new song and people in my room while I practice new songs makes me really nervous. Once we learn this one all the way through, we won't have a new one for quite a while 'cause the set will be done, so it won't be an issue after then."

"That's alright. I think Tommy needs his space at first, he doesn't seem to like interacting with us. For now I'll put a lock on the pantry. I'll put the key in.... the cupboard with the laundry soap, does that sound alright?"

"Sounds good to me." Techno kept narrowly missing his fingers, and Phil had to avert his eyes even though he knew it wouldn't be a big deal if Techno got cut. "I mean, it's not affecting me that much, but I'm alright with the plan."

"Okay." Phil leaned back, relaxing slightly. "Let's all take a deep breath and hope this goes over well, then."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ayo guys pls tell me how this is going so far in the comments- idc if you're confused or if you want more info on the planning or the setting or whatever i'm so starved for interaction guys pls i'm only half kidding--

They crouched on the gravelly slant under the overpass, low on both food and spirit. Fundy and Niki were slightly off to the side, while the rest of the group sat in a larger cluster, every so often glancing back. Fundy pretended not to hear the snippets that were accidentally or on purpose tossed his way.

"-not possible, Sam, he's-"

"...know, but if you think about what Niki..."

"-prove it's possible, you can't, Techno, because-"

"-it's just like-"

"-not even related at all, are you kidding? Wilbur, please tell me you're..."

Niki sighed, tossing a pebble down the incline. "This kind of sucks."

Fundy bit back the urge to scoff. "Kind of? I don't know what you're doing, but I'm kind of homeless, starving, and able to turn invisible on command." He shoved the words out in a rush, regretting them when Niki jumped.

"On command?"

"Well, actually not on-"

"Can he do it on command?" Sam's voice sounded louder than before, and Fundy found it was because the whole group had turned to look at him. "That would actually fix a lot, if we could see."

"I really don't think I can-"

"Try." Niki put a reassuring hand on his arm. "Try to think about how you felt in the moment, focus on that feeling and bring it back again, did you feel any different when you were invisible?"

She was definitely a calming presence. Fundy fought to clear his head. "I- no, I don't know if I felt any different. I don't think I did. I went kind of numb from shock when I realized but that's it. Should I have?"

"It's fine if you didn't. Just try and do it again." She nodded, and Fundy closed his eyes, trying to ignore how there were four sets of eyes drilling holes in him. He took a deep, shuddering breath and attempted to tune out the traffic noise in the background. He could do it, he could do it, he could do it.

Fundy tried to summon a floaty feeling, then a see-through feeling, then a... glass feeling? None of them worked, evidently, as there were no gasps of shock. He opened his eyes and let out the breath he'd been holding. "I got nothing."

"Right." Wilbur nodded, tight lipped, and turned back to the circle. "Of course."

\---

Niki sighed. She'd seen it with her own two eyes, right? Fundy had seen it as well, and so had the woman! There was no way they'd all imagined it, it had to have been real. Magic or superpowers or any of it should probably feel more outlandish and impossible, but Niki was ten and wanted to believe it was real with every fiber of her being. There was nothing cooler than having superpowers, after all.

She put a hand on Fundy's shoulder, noticing how red his eyes were. "Sh, it's fine, I know you're telling the truth. They'll see eventually, 'kay? Til then we can stick together, me and you. Buddies."

"Really?" Fundy's voice was wavering. "You're sure?"

"Of course I am." She grinned back, trying to summon up a bright and confident smile despite the fear eating away at her gut. What if she had been seeing things? What if the woman was startled by something else? A list of what-if's ran through Niki's head, and she retracted her arm. As if he could read her thoughts, Fundy leaned a little closer to try and look at her eyes. Niki guarded her expression and made sure her grin was still plastered on. "I'm sure."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT i've been writing through burnout but i think i'm doing better now and got past all the "background" chapters! the story should be gearing up some more pretty soon :)

They'd been right, shockingly. Despite the annoyance in Wilbur's face when he'd told Tommy there would be food, he had been telling the truth. Food was given to him on a foil-wrapped plate every night, usually healthy. And he tossed most of it in the trash. And didn't clean up. Or ever interact with them. It wasn't that he wanted to throw it away, he just... wasn't hungry. He would clean up if he didn't know what a nice time they seemed to have, talking and laughing like a family (probably because they were a family, Tommy had to keep reminding himself.)

He wasn't quite sure how the house ran. Techno and Wilbur went to school early and stayed late, while Phil was working at the same time. Tommy was left alone in the house, but he did notice that there was an alarm system, one that was on all the time when he was alone. It turned out there was a lock on his window as well, and he didn't want to risk it triggering the alarm. He didn't know how much they would want to interact with him when they were home, so he just let it be and nobody bothered him.

Until Friday rolled around, and with it, a talk Tommy had expected, just not so soon. There came a knocking on the door while Tommy was sitting quietly, rereading a book that he'd found in a desk drawer. Some middle-school level novel, quite boring if he was being honest, but far better than leaving the room.

"Come in," He said, setting the book back down. His voice was raspy from disuse. Phil opened the door and quirked an eyebrow at the fully made bed. Tommy just shrugged. It had become habit to make his bed after living in a house where it had been required, at risk of being locked in the closet, to make it every morning as soon as he woke up. Tommy cleared his throat awkwardly. "What's up?" 

"I just wanted to talk about school. Do you mind if I come in?" Phil didn't enter yet, just leaned in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. 

Tommy tucked his knees to his chest, immediately far more nervous than he'd been seconds before. "It's your house."

Phil nodded and entered, taking an awkward seat on the edge of Tommy's bed. "So you know you're the right age to be in high school right now, sixteen." He gestured to Tommy. "And the boys are already going, so I was wondering if you think you'd be ready to go as well, sometime soon. I can drop you off and pick you up, Wil and Techno hitch rides from a friend. And I swear everyone's nice, we can work out your schedule to be as stress-free as possible."

Tommy nodded. "Cool."

"So that's a yes?" Phil sounded relieved, but Tommy just frowned. He had assumed Phil's wording of 'wondering if you think you'd be ready' was just a formality. He hadn't thought he actually got a choice.

But still, there was no way he was going against Phil so early on. "Yeah, it's a yes."

"Fantastic. If you'd like to join us for dinner, you can, but we don't mind that you're staying in here. Everything happens in its own time." Phil stood, reaching out a hand to ruffle Tommy's hair. He stopped, though, apparently seeing something on Tommy's face, and just nodded curtly. "Yeah. Whenever you're ready, kiddo."

"Right." Tommy watched as Phil quietly left, shutting the door behind him, before going into panic mode. He couldn't go back to school! School was literal hell, he couldn't-- there must be some kind of online program he could do? No. Tommy shut himself down before he could go any further. No. He was going to listen to Phil. He couldn't be disobeying his foster parent on his third day.

He couldn't help but be scared, still, hands flapping around rather frantically as he paced back and forth along the length of his room. What could he do, what could he do? Was there a second option? Was there anything he could do to calm his nerves? A small voice whispered "Ask for help," but Tommy ignored it. He wasn't going to ask for help so early, he didn't need any from them. He could figure it out. Maybe he could get used to being around people?

"Shit, shit shit shit shit," Tommy knelt down, leaning against the side of the bed. "Fuck, what did I do? What did I get myself into? A choice, my ass." He fought back tears. "No, shit, don't cry, c'mon we're better than this." He rubbed his eyes, glaring at the wall. "We can- we can--"

There was truly nothing to do. Panic rose in Tommy and crashed over him like a wave. He would be around people. They would be loud, they would look at him and touch him and talk to him and his ears would hurt his brain would hurt it would be hell it would be hell it would be hell-

Tommy fought to take a shuddering breath and suddenly he was breathing too fast, taking in heavy gulps of air like his life depended on it. "Fuck-- shit-- wait- fuck," Tommy choked out between breaths. Water, he needed water. He shoved open the door to his room and stumbled to the bathroom, light headed. His throat was sore. Tommy fought to even his breathing before turning the tap and taking a drink of the water. He spluttered for a moment but was able to calm himself slightly. 

Tommy stumbled back to his room when he heard someone's door open, shutting it loud enough to make him wince, and leaned again the wall, heart pounding. He didn't have much time to calm himself, however, as someone knocked moments later.

"Tommy? You okay in there?" Wilbur asked, sounding cautious. Tommy repressed the urge to groan with annoyance, and instead forced a grin onto his face, hoping Wilbur would be able to hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I just heard you running around in the bathroom. Did you spill something?"

"Um..." Tommy glanced around. What was a good excuse? "I spilled some water on myself, and it was really cold so I wanted to dry off as fast as I could. That's all." He crossed his fingers, waiting for Wilbur's response.

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." Tommy screwed his eyes shut, praying Wilbur didn't open the door because if he did he wouldn't find a tipped-over cup, but a very disheveled Tommy who probably looked like he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be. "Completely positive."

"...alright." Wilbur didn't sound like he trusted Tommy at all, but he did walk away. Tommy heaved a sigh of relief and pulled himself to his feet. 

He found he wasn't able to focus on his book anymore, stomach twisting with nerves anytime he thought of going to school, so Tommy just put it down and lay on the bed, unmoving. Should he go down for dinner? It might be nice to... 

\---

"Techno! Wil! It's time for dinner!" Phil shouted up the stairs. He heard a door slam open and Wilbur almost fell on his face trying to get down the steps. "Jeez, jeez, chill! No rush!" Phil laughed at his son. "You could have gotten a snack earlier!"

"Didn't mean to fall." Wilbur giggled, leaning against the wall. Techno padded down moments later, looking properly tired. Phil gave him a pat on the shoulder and turned, going to grab a plate for Tommy, when he heard a third set of footsteps coming down the stairs.

There stood Tommy, looking entirely miserable. He was downstairs. The room went silent. Phil just froze. "Oh," He said. "Hello."

"Hi." Tommy didn't move either. "Can I help with anything?"

"Uh, no, just take a chair." Phil waved him to the table, and Tommy sat quietly. Phil raised his eyebrows once he had turned away from the boy, giving Techno a 'what the fuck?' kind of look. Techno tossed a similar look right back, shrugging. Right, then.

Once they were all seated, the dinner table was silent save for the clink of forks. Phil cleared his throat awkwardly. "So," He started, "How are you doing, Tommy? I heard you spilled water earlier?"

Tommy looked surprised for a moment. "Um, I'm doing alright. Sorry about the water, I promise I cleaned it up."

"No big deal." A beat of silence. "You been sleeping okay?"

"Yes." Tommy answered less like he was having a conversation and more like he was being subjected to one.

"Do you have any interests?" Phil tried again at making light talk. "That might help you pick some of your choice classes at school on Monday."

Tommy shrugged, picking at his food. "I don't know what I like to do, much. I like... reading, I guess. But I'm not very good with words. I just like books because of the worlds they're set in."

"Right. How do you feel about world history?" Phil posed the question as best he could. Tommy needed to end up in his class. "I teach it at the high school."

Wilbur seemed to pick up on Phil's cue. "Yeah, his class is definitely my favorite. We do a ton of fun projects, it barely even feels like school. Plus, having your dad as a teacher can't be awful, right?"

"He's not my dad." Tommy replied, the phrase seeming almost instinctual. Wilbur's expression soured and he turned back to his food, what little friendliness there had been between the two of them gone. Phil didn't bother trying to initiate conversation again.

After dinner, Tommy offered to do all the dishes. "It's only fair," He reasoned, "I haven't helped even once after coming here. Just mooched off you."

Phil shrugged one shoulder, wetting a sponge. "You're a kid, you don't need to earn your keep or anything. Besides, you're adjusting to living with multiple people again, I don't blame you for not being around much. Mind passing the soap?"

Tommy handed him the bottle wordlessly. The room was silent for a moment, before: "Are you sure I can't help? I could sweep or clean the countertops or something. I'm good with vacuuming as well."

"You can if you want to, but I don't need the help right now. Your brothers are busy doing homework so they'll have the weekend free-ish. You might get to meet some of their friends! I suggest you save your energy for that."

"They're not my brothers, but okay. Are you entirely sure?" Tommy seemed unsure, like he thought it was some kind of a trap. Phil nodded firmly. 

"You can do what you want, alright? No committing any crimes under this roof and we'll be alright. Got it?"

Tommy didn't answer verbally, just nodded and turned.

Phil sighed, turning off the water and leaning on the sink. "This kid is gonna be the death of me, isn't he?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also, i mentioned that this story was inspired by "oh, we can be heroes" already, and i'm interested to see if anyone would care for having an interactive character like in that fic? i think it would lengthen the chapters and add more depth to the story, if there was a narrator-type character. i'm leaning towards a yes rn but i want to make sure you all would enjoy that, because if i don't do it right it could just add more confusion.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW for blood/injury

Wilbur woke with a start when the sound of breaking glass hit his ears. He was up in a flash, looking to make sure everyone was alright. Sam and Niki quickly scrambled to their feet, as Techno and Fundy were already up. Wilbur pushed as many people he could behind him, holding his arms out as a dark figure advanced.

It was a clearly drunk man, holding the neck of a shattered beer bottle and staggering, leaning heavily to his left. Wilbur's stomach dropped, fight or flight activating. He had barely a split second to choose, however, as the man just charged for them and it was leave his friends or protect them. Wilbur chose the latter, shoving Niki out of the way and ducking under the man's swing. He shoved him from behind, but miscalculated, and the stranger stumbled without falling. He whirled around, furious, but must have realized Wilbur was too difficult a target.

"Go away!" Sam yelled, trying to bring himself as tall as possible (which was quite tall, considering he was the largest in the group). "We don't have anything for you to steal, we're just kids!"

"Fuckin--" The man swore, clutching his stomach, and coughed hard. Techno and Wilbur exchanged nervous glances. What was happening? Why had he decided to pick on them? There appeared to be no reason, and the man lurched forward and, without warning, struck Techno across the face with the bottle. Techno darted back at the last second, but the man tripped at the same time, and his neck was sliced open instead of his cheek.

Niki screamed, running forward, and the man seemed to realize what he'd done, turning to leave. But Fundy was blocking his path, albeit very small and cowardly-seeming. The man seemed to have no qualms with striking again, even a child so much less intimidating, and his arm flung out wildly. Fundy shrieked, and as Wilbur was looking, he disappeared. Into thin air.

"What?" Wilbur shouted, but the noise was covered up by the man's scream of terror. He howled something about demons and ghosts, then about the Lord forgiving him, and turned tail, shoving Sam out of his way and sprinting away from the group. Wilbur's eyes darted frantically from where Fundy was to where Techno lay, in a puddle of blood. Niki was hunched over him, sobbing into her hands. Wilbur cast one look to where Fundy had been and made his voice, jogging to Niki and Techno.

Techno coughed, and blood bubbled up from the wound. Niki's eyes were wide open and tears were running down her face when she looked up at Wilbur. "Wil-- is- is he gonna die?" Her voice was small and shaky. Wilbur gulped.

"I-- I don't-"

"Wait, I-" Techno coughed again, "Fuckin' hurts- Wilbur I-"

"Save your words." Wilbur tried to press down on his friend's neck, but blood was still pouring from the open wound. Of all the luck... "It's not worth it now. Just try to stay awake, okay? Focus on my voice." He couldn't help but let a sob escape, hands shaking. "I don't know how long I can hold it in."

They sat like that for a moment, and Wilbur saw Sam join their little group out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything. Slowly he felt the blood flow to a stop, though Techno's eyes stayed open. Wilbur removed his hands, which were drenched in blood and shaking hard, harder than he thought possible.

"I can't believe..." Fundy trailed off. Wilbur's head whipped to the side and found him visible again, crouched by Techno's side. "I can't believe that just happened."

"Neither can I." Sam's voice was raspy. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Techno's voice was quiet, "Maybe let me talk when I'm tying to tell you guys something next time."

Wilbur's head snapped up. "What?"

"I said," Techno sat up, rubbing at the spot on his neck where the wound had been. "Let me talk next time." he used his coat sleeve to clean off the blood, revealing a shiny white scar. "I was trying to tell you it was healing."

"So...?"

"Super healing." Fundy looked like he was in awe, eyes shiny and huge. "I fucking knew I wasn't crazy."

Everyone burst into laughter, even though the comment hadn't been that funny. They couldn't be blamed for it, though, they had just been flooded with a wave of relief and happiness. Wilbur leaned back when he managed to stop giggling, staring at the stone ceiling.

"What are we going to do now?"

The mood grew somber again. "I'm not sure," Niki said softly. "But whatever it is, can we do it together?"

"Yeah." Fundy was practically whispering, and when Wilbur glanced over he could see his eyelids drooping. "We can do it together."

***

Hello.

It's our first time meeting, I believe. I'd like to introduce myself. 

I'm the Narrator of this story. I don't know why I am writing this, or why I am putting it out into the world... but I am. There's not really a point in writing such a story, or in reading it, since we can all assume it will end in tragedy. After all, bad luck seems to follow these characters.

So that begs the question. Why are you reading this? After all, you must have read the tags. You must know this story is full of pain and heartbreak by now. You could have scrolled on past. So why are you here? 

I suppose you could counter that I wrote this, put it out there for everyone to see. You'd be right, of course, but I don't take pleasure in recalling such a tale. You, on the other hand, have no obligation to read this. So why do you?

Do you enjoy watching someone suffer? Do you like it because it makes you feel better about your own life? Or is it simply because you want to occupy your mind with something besides real life?

So many questions, so little time.

Til next we meet, reader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guess what, a single person said they liked the idea so it's part of the plot now
> 
> the narrator is an interactive character, it is not me. if you care to interact (pls do it's rlly important to the plot) with the narrator, you can address it. give it a name, bully it, try to flirt with it, call it a stupid bitch, do what you want. 
> 
> 'cause you're writing the story alongside me :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> !!! we finally get to meet more of the characters jfc
> 
> also cw for slight derealization on the Narrator's parts. not sure if anyone needs it, but it's good to be safe.

Monday morning came quietly, bringing with it a killer headache. Tommy groaned as he woke up, a throbbing pain in between his eyes growing stronger every second. He clambered out of bed, limbs feeling like lead, and pulled the blankets messily over his bed. Tommy vaguely remembered he'd taken a shower the night before at Phil's command, and had clean clothes sitting somewhere. So much for planning to leave within two days.

He sighed, tugging on the shirt he'd left laying out. Why had he stayed? Was it because Wilbur had been so nice, trying to get him to meet the friends Tommy would inevitably see at school? Was it because Phil had been so civil? Was it because he heard Techno say he knew how Tommy felt, hoarding food, because he'd done the same some time ago? There was no real way to tell.

Tommy stumbled to the bathroom and brushed his teeth through bleary eyes, trying to ignore how horribly his head hurt. He washed up quickly, turning off the lights first because they made his headache worse. He almost ran headfirst into Wilbur, who sidestepped at the last seconds and gave him an odd look. Ignoring it, Tommy pushed past and went downstairs.

He was too anxious to actually eat anything, and most certainly didn't want to be around people, but he needed to be prepared for going to school. School. His stomach twisted into a tight knot, and Tommy set his forehead on the cool countertop with a sigh.

"Doin' okay, Tommy? We're leaving in a few minutes." Phil's voice was light, and Tommy could almost hear a hint of concern.

"'M fine."

"Alright, then. Do you want to get in the car?" Phil pointed towards the garage. "It's open. You don't need a backpack or anything today, just your coat and shoes. Since you've been out for so long they're giving you a placement test."

"I did online classes." Tommy dragged himself to where his shoes sat, tugging them on.

"Well then there's nothing to worry about!" Phil clapped a hand on his shoulder unexpectedly, and Tommy flinched without really realizing. Phil retracted his hand. "I'll pick you up after school, like I said. Techno and Wilbur have band practice after school, they're in the more advanced group, so they'll come back about an hour after school actually ends."

Tommy nodded and stood, following Phil's gesture to the garage, and closed the door behind him when he stepped in. He wasn't sure which seats were usually taken, so he just opted for the backseat on the right side. Techno joined him soon after, taking the passenger seat. Neither of them spoke.

A few minutes passed in silence before Wilbur and Phil came out, climbing into the car quietly. Phil started up the engine, the sound making Tommy's ears throb. He groaned, annoyed, and covered his ears. After a moment, however, the sound was at a tolerable level. He sighed with relief as Phil began to back up the car.

The school wasn't far, just a few blocks away. It seemed fairly average, though still nicer than any school Tommy had actually attended. Phil parked and let them all climb out, seeing them off with a wave and a grin. He said something about getting coffee before class, and drove off again.

"You really should take his class," Wilbur said as he scanned the sidewalk. "It's actually one of the best classes in the whole school, and all the kids are awesome. We've become a tight-knit little group. And there's a few of them!" He waved at the crowd, jogging over to a small circle of people. Tommy followed when Techno did.

He stood awkwardly at the edge of the circle, analyzing the group. There was a girl with pink hair, a boy with green hair, and a blond boy. They looked perfectly normal if you ignored their colored hair. He forced a smile when the girl grinned at him. 

"This is Tommy, he's my younger brother." Wilbur lay a hand on Tommy's shoulder, making him bristle.

"You're not my brother." He pushed Wilbur's arm away. "But yeah, I'm Tommy."

There was a beat of silence before Techno started speaking. "Well, okay, this is Niki." The girl waved, grinning lightly. "Sam." The boy with green hair did a little salute. "And Purpled."

"Hi." Tommy's eyes slid down to his shoes.

"Well, morning Wil." The girl, Niki, gave Wilbur a quick hug. "How's everything been?"

"We just saw each other the day before yesterday." Wilbur's voice was amused.

"So? I still wanna know." Tommy could hear a grin in Niki's voice.

"Sam! You left me back there!" Tommy heard footsteps quickly approaching. Was this another member of the group? He looked up long enough to see someone his age, maybe younger, with brown hair and a green jacket. "I couldn't find you guys. Is this Tommy?"

"Yeah. Tommy, this is Tubbo. He's gonna show you around, make sure you can get to all your classes. We should actually head to class, I think you folks woke up a tad late and the bell's gonna ring-"

As if the universe was listening, the bell went off, making them all jump. Tommy felt someone take his hand and start walking, dragging him with. He looked up, frowning, and found the back of Tubbo's head was his only view. 

"The office is this way," Tubbo said without looking back. Tommy glared before wrenching his hand free and stuffing it in his pocket, grumbling about being able to walk himself. Tubbo paused, glancing back curiously, but shrugged and turned again. "Have it your way, just don't get lost. There's a rush of people in the main hallway before school."

Tommy knew what it felt like to be surrounded by a river of people, why was Tubbo trying to baby him? "I know, I've been to school before."

"Oh." Tubbo's confidence stuttered. "Sam told me you hadn't been."

"I haven't been to in-person school for a while, but I did online classes after work." He hadn't meant to mention work. Tommy swore under his breath, hoping Tubbo wouldn't pick up on it. Having kids work technically wasn't allowed, and the person who had let him would most certainly lose his job if anyone found out.

"...work? You were working?"

"How else d'you think I lived on my own for so long? Think my parents provided for me?" Tommy couldn't help but let a little bite creep into his tone. Tubbo pushed through a door and into a crowd, turning so they could still talk.

"Well, pardon me," He said mockingly. "Sorry I don't know all about your past. It's not like you've told anyone much, is it?"

Tommy tried to respond, but Tubbo spun on his heel and entered the office. He bit back a swear and followed, unable to help the sigh of relief that escaped him at the chattering of the students becoming muted as the door closed.

"Hello, ma'am. Tommy needs to take a placement test." Tubbo leaned on the counter, speaking to one of the office ladies. "He's sixteen."

"Of course." The woman peered over her glasses at Tommy. "Come into the back, we can give you a paper test. Your friend can have a pass to stay with you while you take it, but I'm standing by to make sure you're not cheating. Got it?"

"He's not my-"

"Thank you!" Tubbo snatched the paper and pushed through to the back. Tommy scowled, following. He grabbed the paper from Tubbo and sat down heavily at the desk he was directed to, resisting the urge to snap the pencil in half. What did this kid think he was doing, pestering him so much? Was there a point? He rolled his eyes and started on the first question.

The test was surprisingly easy, if Tommy could look past the English questions. Words had never been his strong subject. Math, however, he excelled in. He was right without needed to even check over his work, he had done the same thing time and time again... for fun. Tommy hurried through the Social Studies questions, hoping he might get out of Phil's class, as he mentioned it was an extra Honors class, one that you could only take if you met certain requirements. 

He was interrupted in the middle of trying to choose between A or B by the office door slamming open. A boy practically fell in, breathing heavily, his jacket on inside out and his backpack askew. He put his hands on his knees and panted for a minute before righting himself. Tommy noted his hair color seemed too black to be natural, maybe he had dyed it. 

"Hi, Tubbo. Sorry I'm late, I just woke up and had literally no idea where I was. Ended up being two miles from home, I had to run all the way here." He held up his hands as if in apology. "This- oh. Who's that?"

Tubbo sounded like he was cringing hard. "Good first impression. Ranboo, this is Tommy. He's Phil's son, remember? He was starting today?" Tommy didn't miss the sour look that was sent in Ranboo's direction. Again with the crazy names. 

"Phil's not my dad, I'm just living with him." How quickly was he supposed to get used to calling someone his parent? It seemed like everyone expected him to love Phil, assume he was going to be a dad. Tommy shook his head at the thought. His dad was..... well, his dad was dead, but he was never calling another man his dad, or his father, or his parent. Foster parent of guardian was all that passed. "And why did you... were you drunk?" He couldn't help the anxious shift in his tone.

"I..." Ranboo accepted the late slip when it was handed to him. "I'll see you two at lunch."

Tubbo nodded, and Ranboo grinned, jogging out of the office. "Sorry 'bout him."

Tommy blew out a puff of air, making his bangs fly up a little. "Didn't know your friends were alcoholics."

"Well, he's- that's not exactly--" Tubbo huffed, slumping a little. "That was a bad introduction. I promise he's not as bad as he seems, okay?"

Tommy stomach twisted with dread. So Ranboo was a drinker. He had been hoping for Tubbo to laugh and say no, it was normal for him to sleepwalk or that sometimes people pranked him by dumping him somewhere random at night. That would be - at least partially - understandable. But still, he didn't want to cause any trouble. "Okay."

\---

When the door slammed open in the middle of one of Phil's long stories, everyone's heads shot up in shock. It was just Ranboo, wheezing with laughter. Wilbur shifted, glancing to his classmates' faces. They all seemed just as confused as him, luckily. Phil tilted his head forward, accepting Ranboo's late pass, and waved him to his assigned seat. "Mind explaining yourself?"

Ranboo fought to stop laughing, forehead landing on his desk. "I met Tommy," He said defeatedly once he had gained control of his lungs.

Phil raised his eyebrows. "And?"

"And I accidentally said I woke up two miles from home, because I just saw Tubbo. Tommy thinks I'm an alcoholic now." Ranboo wheezed again, bringing the class down with him. Everyone knew Ranboo stayed away from drinking because, in his own words, 'If I'm going to wake up miles from home without knowing why, I'd prefer to do with without a headache.'

Phil was clearly holding back a laugh. "So-- so you saw him and-"

"And now you all are going to have to pretend it's normal for me to get drunk on a school night, yes." Ranboo covered his face when he laughed, putting his head back down on the desk. "I should've skipped today."

"Okay, everyone, calm yourselves. We need to get as much learning as we can done tonight, thankfully Ranboo cut short my story of the day." He cleared his throat. "Everyone ready to take notes on powers through the ages?"

Wilbur bit back a groan and pulled out his notebook. Turned out Ranboo's entrance wasn't going to set the mood for the period.

***

Hello again, reader.

Why do you think so little of me?

Did I lie? I told you all that I post this for myself, and that you choose to look for it.

Someone tried to steal my lunch money. I was called a bitch. Someone told me I was rude and my words were uncalled for. 

But others answered my question. They told me it helps them cope with life in a way other things can't. Is this true? Does the suffering of others make you feel better? I suppose it might, to see these people be hurt and prevail anyway. Curious how the human mind works, yes?

And to answer what seems to be a burning question for so many of you, I write to remember. I have known many stories over the course of my life, but none quite so vibrant as this.

Do you believe in the theory that there are billions of universes, stacked on top of each other? Do you think they are like tiny threads, or do you think they are thin layers? Do you think of them at all?

Your reality is just one of these. For every action that could have been done differently there are hundreds of universes where it was. I think it's fascinating, reader. 

Think about it, really think. For every action, there is an infinite number of outcomes. And a universe for each outcome. Or maybe you don't believe in that theory, or you believe in a different version. Maybe you think there is a finite, countable number of universes. If so, where does it end? How many different actions are made? Is there a universe for each one?

But I'm rambling.

Goodbye for now, reader, and take this with you: everything is not always as it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL PULLED THE FUCK THROUGH WITH THE NARRATOR THING HOLY HELL MY INBOX--- THIS IS AWESOME TYSM GUYS I WAS SCARED IT WOULDNT GO OVER WELL


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i posted chapter 9, refreshed my inbox, and it turned out i had missed like a five paragraph comment to the narrator by literally two minutes bro im so sorry you're amazing that was my bad gdkdjskdj

It was a good day. The sun was up, it was no longer raining, and they had all been humming a quiet tune, wandering down the streets in search of food or safer shelter. After the incident with the drunk man and discovering Techno's power, they weren't going to take any chances. Despite the shadow of the night before, their group was calm and honestly not having a bad time.

Until a car door slammed and Niki fell through the concrete.

For a second nobody moved, frozen by shock. Niki had fallen down in the middle of an alley. Fundy stared at the ground she slipped into. "....Niki?" He pressed his ear to the damp pavement.

"I- guys, I think I just-- what happened?" Her voice was strained and small, but Fundy could still hear her. "I can't see anything."

"Niki, I think you're in the ground. Can you move at all?" Techno got over his initial shock and kneeled, staring at the same spot Fundy was. It vaguely occurred to Fundy that the group must look crazy, talking to the ground, but he didn't have the energy to care.

"I can move, but I can't go up. Am I in the ground? I can't see." Niki's voice began to tremble, and it sounded like she was about to cry. "I'm really scared of small spaces. C-can anyone try and get me out?"

Fundy tried to reach into the ground, which obviously didn't work. He turned to Sam and Wilbur for advice, finding them blocking Techno and Fundy from the view of the street. "I... I'm not sure." Fundy licked his lips, trying to think. "Can you imagine there being a ladder for you to climb? And you can try to reach for a rung and pull yourself up?"

"Y-you think it's a power...?" Niki ignored his advice. "I don't want this to be my power."

"Trust me, I don't like mine either." Fundy sighed. "Just try pulling yourself out, 'kay?"

There were a few seconds of silence. "It's not working."

"Okay." Fundy took a deep breath. "Techno, you wanna try?"

Techno's voice faded to a mumble in the background, sounds and colors bleeding together. Fundy furrowed his brow. Why was their luck so awful? Did they all have powers? Was that why they were all in the same place on the same night? He blinked hard, trying to re-ground himself. It didn't work, the questions kept flooding in. If they all had powers, what was Wilbur's? Sam's? Was it natural or man-made? Was it triggered by being together? There had been so many discoveries in the short time they's been around each other.

Fundy was jolted back to reality by Techno nudging his arm, a slightly concerned look on his face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking." Fundy looked back down at the concrete. "Niki, have you tried reaching for the surface? Like go up as far as you can and maybe you could pull yourself back up?"

He could just barely see the tips of two flesh-and-blood fingers as Niki grunted, jumping to try and reach. As if the ground was a hologram, Niki's searching fingers found no purchase, even though Fundy could feel it was the same as always.

"Okay. Try to... think you're solid. Can you feel your body?"

"Kind of. It's tingly." Niki sounded slightly frantic. "I hate this."

"Focus on yourself one body part at a time. Is your body solid to you? If you try to hold hands with yourself does it work?"

There was a beat of silence, and then: "I can hold hands with myself, but it's weird. I can-- I can focus on my body."

"Fundy, someone's coming." Wilbur whispered over his shoulder. Fundy swore quietly.

"Niki, I need you to not talk for a minute, there's someone coming and-" He broke off when an adult-sized shadow washed over the ground in front of him. "Where'd the stupid bug go? Techno, did you catch it?"

"I thought you did!" Techno's head shot up, and he was so convincing that for a second Fundy wondered if there actually had been a bug. "So you just let it get- oh, hello ma'am. Is everything alright?"

"Where are your parents, children?" An elderly woman's voice. Fundy cringed. He didn't like old people at the best of times, and this certainly didn't even come close to the best. He managed to look her in the eye.

"They're at work. Me and my brother-" Fundy gestured to Wilbur, "Wanted to hang out with some friends today. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." She sounded relieved. "Say, where do your parents work?"

Fundy considered just running, but remembered Niki was still trapped under the concrete. Techno came to save the day, luckily. "They work at the accounting firm across the street. Do you want to go get them?"

"No, that won't be necessary. Thank you, kids." The woman turned and walked off, leaving a very relieved bunch of kids behind. Fundy turned to the ground again, focusing on Niki.

"Are you okay?" He said, making sure to be quieter than before lest someone hear him from the street. "Niki?"

"I- I'm here." She sounded badly shaken. "I don't like enclosed spaces is all. Cou-could you help me out, please? I want to get out." She took a deep, shuddering breath, and Fundy's stomach twisted into a knot. How could he help her? What could any of them do in such a situation?

"Wilbur, Sam, now would be a fantastic time to reveal you can fall through the ground to help Niki out." He glanced back nervously. Wilbur flipped him off without responding. Fundy scowled. "Alright, asshole."

\---

Almost two hours later, the sun was setting and Fundy had more or less given up. Niki had become inconsolable, and he'd stopped trying to make her feel better. She was panicking and Techno's breathing exercises only worked to keep her calm for a small amount of time. Fundy leaned his head against the cool stone wall, watching Techno try yet again to talk to Niki.

"Nikks, I know you don't like it in there, but you have to work with me, okay? You gotta-"

"Techno, Techno, there's a policeman coming, Techno--" Sam's voice rose in both volume and pitch as he scrambled to his feet. "Hello, officer?" 

Fundy leapt up as well, seeing Techno and Wilbur do the same out of the corner of his eye. Niki, luckily, had enough sense to be quiet. The officer stared them all down. "Sounds like you kids have been out here a while. Might be time for y'all to go home."

"Oh, we--" Sam glanced to Fundy frantically. He could only shrug. "We- we're homeless. Our parents all died so we're living here now."

"Your parents didn't die." The officer sighed. "You lot are runaways, I can see it in your eyes. Kids like you tend to bolt." He leaned into his radio. "Can I get someone down here to pick up four kids and bring 'em back to the station? We need to identify their parents."

There was a garbled response, and the officer seemed pleased. "Now, if you can just-"

"Get down!" Techno shouted, pointing at the sky. Fundy jumped with fear, and when Techno's eyes darted to him he realized that had been the point of the diversion. Fundy glanced down and sighed with relief when he found he was invisible. The officer whirled around to glare at Techno. 

"Don't do that, kid. Where'd your friend go? Did he run?"

"Friend?" Wilbur looked around innocently. "What do you mean? It's just the three of us, plus you."

"Yeah, sure kid." The officer peered around, but apparently found nothing amiss. Fundy sucked in a breath and plastered himself to the wall, praying the officer didn't decide to look any closer. "We'll find him by morning, if he's run. You bought him barely any time, and now your parents will surely be even more upset at you. Think about how much his parents will miss him tonight!"

"Whose parents?" Sam tilted his head slightly. "I think we've mentioned we don't have any."

"Of course you don't." The car pulled up to the curb and the officer herded Sam, Wilbur, and Techno into the backseat. He scanned the area one last time, suspicious, before climbing in the passenger's side.

\---

Hello once again, reader.

Setting aside the messages I have received pertaining to my wallet and how it could change hands in the near future, I believe enough of you answered my question for me to understand why you read stories such as this.

Some of you seem to want a distraction from the real world, an escape of sorts, while others use sad stories simply to entertain themselves, use of time. One person, however, stood out to me.

Jordie.

You posed the question: "What is the point of a narrator with nobody to narrate a story to?" And I must admit I am stumped. I never fully considered why I would put this into the world in all its gruesome glory. Maybe it was to show people they can prevail through tragedy. Maybe it was because I felt sadistic. Maybe I'll never truly say, leave you hanging. That would be a shame, wouldn't it? I suppose someday I'll tell you, but today is not that day.

Jordie, you and me are not the same, not even similar, yet I still understand what you mean. However, I find myself curious of one thing. You enjoy the calm after the storm, but you don't know if the storm will ever end. Do you think it will? Do you think it will leave destruction in its wake, or the chance of regrowth, of repair? You must realize there is a long way to go, more to see. Maybe the calm will never come.

I suppose it is from me that you'll have to find out.

Til next time.

And take this with you: everything is not as it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also! the narrator uses they/it, and you can feel free to give it a nickname if that's how you roll (note that when I, the author, writes things in the notes, the narrator is unaware)
> 
> also! the narrator's goodbyes ("take this with you") are little hints at the contents of the next chapter
> 
> love u all! (or thank u for reading if you're not comfy with me saying that)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall idk what i did but the reach for this fic has totally s u c k e d-- i wrote a fic with basically all the same tags, and it probably looked even less compelling, but this has 5,000 less hits?? i don't know what i did wrong lmao

After all the class had been made out to be, it seemed quite bland at a glance. Tommy sat in the back row, watching the class intently. Wilbur, Techno, and Tubbo were in period one with him. It turned out Ranboo was in the same class, though he came in just before the bell rang. A girl sat in the front, pink hair tied into a ponytail, and Tommy remembered meeting her but couldn't think of her name. It started with an N or M, but he didn't know which. Maria? 

Tommy sighed, resting his chin on one hand. Phil closed the classroom door once the bell rang and pulled out a sheet of paper. "I know we usually don't do attendance, but we have a new student and I'd like him to learn all your names." 

Everyone turned to glance at him. Tommy shrank in on himself.

"Fundy?"

"Here." Someone answered. Tommy's gaze darted to a ginger haired boy, wearing a black jacket. He was sitting two rows ahead, so Tommy couldn't see his face. His hair would have to be enough for now.

"Ranboo?"

"Hello," Ranboo replied. Tommy found their seats were only two apart, separated by an empty desk. He did his best to not look over.

"Niki?"

Niki, that was her name. "Here." She raised her hand slightly and went back to doodling.

"Techno?"

"Hi." Techno didn't lift his head from the desk. Understandably. Tommy could barely sleep the night before due to construction going on at the house next door. None of them had gotten much rest, apparently. It would be a good cover for if he wanted to run, thoug-

"Tommy?"

"Um. Here." Tommy flushed when everyone looked back at him again. Why did he have to sit in the back row, again?

"Wilbur."

"Hey." Wilbur nodded, adjusting his beanie. Tommy noted he sat in the front row.

"Tubbo?"

"Hi, Mr. Watson." Tubbo didn't glance up from his book. Tommy frowned, remembering the day before. Was Tubbo going to act like they were conjoined at the hip again, or was he planning on leaving Tommy alone?

"Eret, I already checked you off because you tuned in the work before class started.

"Thanks." Someone, presumably Eret, responded. Tommy looked to his left and found Eret, one row up. Brown hair, tall. Tommy made note.

"Karl?"

"Right here, sir." Tommy's gaze shot to the other side of the room. Karl apparently sat right next to the door, and had opted for a large sweater instead of a coat like everyone else had. 

"Right, then. Can anyone tell Tommy what this next topic is about? This is both to help him and make sure you understand what's happening." Phil scanned over the classroom, looking for a victim. "Eret, would you mind?"

"Not at all." Eret turned to Tommy. "We've been focused on the civil war for a week or two, but we're turning around and going back in history to talk about the middle ages. I think we were talking about Europe and it's hierarchy, right?"

"Exactly." Phil seemed pleased, and picked up a textbook, tapping the cover and showing it to the class. "In the back of the room you'll find enough of these for each person. Go ahead and take one, but don't jostle; they're all the same."

Tommy waited until everyone else was standing before he got up, waiting in the back of the somewhat messy line that had formed. He ended up right behind Ranboo, who unfortunately turned around to talk to him.

"Hey, sorry about yesterday, I swear I don't usually drink on school nights. Guess the stress just got to me." He laughed sheepishly, and Tommy was suddenly aware of how tall he was. Tommy himself had always been tall, hitting six feet in middle school (and had barely grown an inch since), but Ranboo was even taller, almost freakishly so. He was a good three or four inches taller than Tommy.

"It's-- it's fine, don't worry about it." Tommy avoided eye contact, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. The line moved forward, and Ranboo turned to grab a book. Tommy took one as well, leaving six still on the shelf, and they both went back to their seats. If Tommy could have his way, that would be the end of their conversation, but Ranboo seemed determined to keep talking.

"No, really, I don't wanna freak you out. It's not often we get new kids in here, y'know?" He leaned over the tables. "As a token of goodwill, I'll tell you a little secret." He leaned closer, glancing around to make sure everyone was trying to flip to the right page and not listening in. "They're planning on pranking you. It's kind of a ritual for when you first join, everyone's had it done to them. Hell, when I first got into this class Techno locked me in a broom closet for an hour and a half after telling me I had clean-up duty."

Tommy choked back a bark of laughter. "That's... unfortunate."

"Yeah, especially because I didn't realize the door was locked for twenty minutes, so I organized all the cleaning supplies. Don't believe them if anyone tells you to stay after and clean the classroom, that's not an actual job."

"Will do." Tommy regained his composure and glanced at the board, seeing they had twenty minutes to read pages 138-148. He flipped open his book and leaned down, flicking through the pages to find the right one. This time Ranboo got the message and opened his own book with a sigh. 

And so began the most boring class Tommy had ever sat through.

***

After the bell finally rang, Tommy could have sang with relief. Not only was the class bare-bones boring, like Phil had taken the very basics of what he needed to teach and done nothing more to try and make the subject interesting, but it was also slow and full of old, dusty retellings of stories Tommy had heard a hundred times already. He stretched, savoring the feeling, and stood, ready to grab his backpack and run to second period.

"Tommy, stay after class for a few minutes," Phil called from the front of the room. Tubbo let out a small 'you're in trouble' noise, but Tommy ignored it. He waited til everyone had filtered out of the room before awkwardly stepping up to the desk.

"What's going on?"

"Your second period teacher called in sick, and we don't have time to find a substitute, so you'll be in here again for second period. I hold study periods or options for extra credit and homework help during second period, so I don't have an actual class coming in. The other students in your class will be in their first period classes. You can take your seat again."

"Right." Tommy sat awkwardly. He was tempted to daydream, let himself zone out, but he felt on edge and jumpy, even though Phil was just grading papers. He put his head on his desk, ready to wait out the period.

\---

"So you actually told him...?" Karl sounded like he was seconds away from breaking out laughing. Ranboo covered his face with his hands, red with embarrassment.

"I had to! If I had kept my big mouth shut there would be no reason to! I can't believe I had to tell Phil's kid I drink on weeknights." He groaned, before perking up slightly. "But, good news, if anyone slips up around him he'll think it's a prank. I told Tommy it's something we all do. So don't pull anything, it's supposed to be a back up method."

"Yeah, of course." Karl ducked his head, holding in a laugh. "I just- I know Tommy doesn't know you like everyone else does but I can't help but laugh at the fact that he thinks you go out drinkin-" Karl was cut off by his own wheeze, drawing the attention of the nearby students. Ranboo giggled right along with him, the stress of keeping such a secret melting away just a little when he was able to poke humor at it. Karl just laughed harder, and soon Ranboo was cackling along with him. He glanced up through teary eyes and found a teacher glaring at him from across the room.

"Karl, Karl, shit, we're gonna get in t-trouble--" He choked out between giggles. "We have to be quieter."

"Right, of course, I'm just--" Karl took a deep, shaky breath, face red from laughing. "Right. What do you want to work on for the project?"

***

Hello, once again. 

Jordie. Fate.

Why do you seem to think I am not human? That I am somehow a greater being, and am trying to comprehend mortal life? I suppose I can see how you came to that conclusion. And maybe I am greater. Or maybe I am human. Maybe I am nothing at all.

.ʍouʞ ʇ,uop I uǝʌǝ ǝqʎɐW

But back to you, any and all of you. You are far braver than me, reading a story with no clue of the outcome. Jordie says they read for the plot, for the middle, but I'm not sure I understand. Life exists to end, does it not? Perhaps that's a bleak outlook. Perhaps.

And you, Fate, you say the calm is best when earned, that it feels all the more wonderful when the characters fight for their happiness. And I must say I agree. Watching them suffer and prevail just makes the satisfaction of the win - or brutal loss - all the more vibrant. 

You all do make me wonder.

If you had all the time in the world, what would you do with it?

Til next we meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder that anyone can comment, i'm just addressing these two directly because they responded with thoughtful answers. you don't have to do that if u wanna talk to the narrator, of course, any and all comments influence its words!
> 
> hope u all are having a nice day :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey just making it clear that the relationship between niki and wilbur is (and this also applies to the "future" chapters) platonic!! he sees her as a younger sister, and wants to keep her safe because of it! just clearing up any confusion ppl might have about that :)

Techno scrambled through the streets, a rapidly healing bruise over his left eye burning as he ran. He could hear Wilbur and Sam close behind, their breathing ragged, footsteps quick and echoing off the walls of the alley as they stomped in puddles. Where was it, where was it? He had tried so hard to keep track of the streets when they were in the police car, but there had been a lot of traffic, and Sam cried as an attempt at distraction, and he had to reverse the steps.

But they didn't joke about Techno being a human GPS for nothing.

He found the right alley quick enough, slamming into the wall when he skidded in a slimy puddle. Without missing a beat, Techno dropped to the ground and peered at the concrete where Niki had been trapped. "Are you still down there?"

There was no response. Techno glanced up, finding Sam and Wilbur hunched over and breathing hard, unable to get words out because of how hard they were panting. He frowned, had it really been so difficult? Or maybe a part of his healing ability was not having a recover after running over a mile...? No time to think.

"I don't think she's still here. Where would they go?"

"Wilbur!" There was a blur of blonde hair and a gray sweater and suddenly Wilbur was struggling to keep his balance as well as breathe. Techno didn't miss the way his eyes softened, like he was looking at a little sister. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" Wilbur spluttered out between raspy breaths. "Are you okay! You were stuck i-in the ground- we thought you- oh my god." He put his hands on his knees and took a second to pant raggedly. "How'd you make it out?"

"I kind of figured out how to do it, and me and Fundy spent the night working on it. I can kind of control it now." She jogged to the nearest building and grinned. "Check this out." 

Then, Niki, a whole ten year old flesh and blood girl, stepped through a decidedly solid wall, not looking even slightly concerned.

"Show off," Fundy scoffed. Techno turned to see him leaning on the other wall of the alley, smiling. There were dark circles under his eyes, but he looked mostly happy. "She's trying really hard to hold it and impress you guys."

"Fundy!" She popped back out of the wall, glaring lightly. "I wanted to show them because I think it's cool."

"It is cool!" Sam assured her. "Way cooler than... speed healing, was it?"

"Speed healing." Techno nodded. "I think it's cool, you jerk."

"Sure, sure, whatever." Wilbur jokingly punched Techno in the arm, but his eyes were still on Niki. There was a hint of jealousy in them, but there was no telling if it was over Fundy being close to her or Niki's power being so interesting. There wasn't really a way to tell, but Techno suspected a hint of both.

"Did you bring food?" Niki changed the subject, stepping out of the wall. She looked hopeful, and Techno's heart twinged with guilt. They had gotten some food at the station. It hadn't been amazing, just some fruit and a few half-bagels that were sitting around, as well as some really watery hot cocoa, but it was still food. And then they'd gotten to sleep in warm, mostly comfortable cots that officers used when they worked late. And they hadn't had time to bring anything back with them.

Sam looked just as guilty, wringing his hands. "We didn't have time. We kind of just had to run. Speaking of which," He looked behind him suddenly, as if he was scared someone was on his tail, "We should keep moving. They know we were here last night, they probably think we'd come back."

"Oh." Niki looked sad for a moment before taking a deep breath. "That's fine! We can get food some other time, right? Let's find somewhere to stay for tonight."

"Of course." Wilbur stepped closer, looking her over. "You're sure you're okay? Last night was... rough."

"I'm fine, Wil." Niki's eyes softened. "Last night was... awful." She shuddered, "But I'm feeling a lot better now that I can control it more. If you get a power, what would you want it to be?"

Wilbur blinked at the sudden change in conversation. "Flight, probably. Or maybe shape shifting. That would be cool." He grinned, seemingly over his moodiness from before, and looped his arm through Niki's. "Where do you wanna stay tonight?"

Techno sighed, dragging his feet as he followed. He might not feel tired after running long distances, but out of the blue he felt like crawling into a hole and sleeping for two weeks.

***

Everyone had good questions today, reader. Jordie asked what I would do if I had finite time on this Earth. Who’s to say I don’t? Honestly, I’m not sure even I know. I certainly haven’t died yet. But I’ll bite anyway. 

I would probably live. Live like any other human would, but I would try to do it… better than I have in the past.

I would probably test my limits, just… be there. In the moment. Present. How often can one say they are truly present, living in a world without layers upon layers upon layers? That brings me back to the multiverse theory. Are we in a base reality? Science says we’re likely not. God knows how much time we have in a base reality, if we’re not in it right now. Makes you think, right?

I believe in life after death. I think, Fate, that you were right. The world is far too complex for there to truly be death. Reincarnation, do you think? Or do ghosts roam the Earth? I’m far more inclined to believe in reincarnation, myself. Have you ever heard the theory that we are all one person, and that person has lived billions of lives? That I am on one side of a screen, telling this to you, while you are on the other side reading it, but we are the same thing? It’s quite mind blowing.

Chris, you told me to start with who and what I care about, but what if I have nothing? What if my existence is nothing anymore? What if it never was anything? Would I have anything to value?

I think I have emotions, still, but I’m not sure if I’m human. I don’t know, Liv, I am sorry. I enjoy debating with you lot, though.

I seem to have entirely forgotten who I am. Who I was? Can one truly be the same person after entirely losing themselves? I don’t know how long it’s been… I do not know. 

With my time, Emu, I will probably continue to do this. Tell the stories of others, cement their lives on paper so they will live forever, at least in spirit. If the desire to understand is a human trait, then do you think I am human? I want to know just as much as you do. Maybe even more. It’s been a while since I’ve had to contemplate that.

Reader, I’ve neglected mentioning you. I’ve been so caught up with talking to the commenters, I apologize. I’ll send a bit of wisdom your way to wrap up the chapter.

Don’t trust someone when you can tell they’re withholding information. It may sound obvious, but it’s important nonetheless. Do with that what you will.

Til next we speak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> couldn’t answer this as the narrator bc in the story they’re the one writing but i am not the narrator! the narrator is a character, even though you can go back and forth with them. all the replies i give in the comments are me, the author, unless i specify it’s not (which i haven’t had to do yet)
> 
> also yall PULLED THROUGH on this last one holy shit i had to re-edit the narrator’s paragraph like five times because there were so many thoughtful comments and it was awesome aaaaa


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw for harsh language/yelling/guilt tripping?? i don't know, there's an argument, just keep urself safe babes
> 
> i've been waiting for a specific type of comment since i was in the early stages of planning the narrator THANK U PLIA

Tommy stared at the door to his second period classroom. On Tuesday he hadn't been able to go in, but maybe that was a blessing. The students inside were all rowdy-seeming and older than him. But it was either that or spend an agonizing two hours skipping class with nothing to do. And if he did that there was a fair chance Phil would.... Tommy took a deep breath, steeling his nerves, and stepped inside.

Only a few people turned to look when the door closed. There wasn't a teacher in sight. Tommy awkwardly waved at the people who were staring him down, trying to take a seat, when- "Hey, Tommy! Come sit with us!"

Tommy searched for the speaker, and found him sitting in the third row, waving frantically. Tommy took stock, making sure he wasn't some kind of bully. He had brown hair, pulled back by an orange hairband, and wore a football jersey, but didn't seem like the bullying type. Of course, Tommy could be wrong, but he was enthusiastically waving and grinning, so... he stepped over, trying to avoid attention.

"...Hello?" He asked, not sitting down.

"Don't scare the kid, Sap." Another boy turned to face the one who waved, nudging him playfully. "Sorry if that was weird. He doesn't really do socially acceptable, if you get what I mean."

The first boy, Sap, if that wasn't a nickname, scoffed. "Oh, like you're better, Mr. Wears-Sunglasses-in-Class."

The brunet pushed his glasses up to his forehead. "And?"

"And you're weird. Dream-"

"You're both weird, I'm not gonna be the tiebreaker. You've managed to forget about Tommy." A third person turned around, evidently named Dream, and pushed blond bangs up when they fell into his eye. Tommy couldn't help but scowl. He had the kind of face that said he changed girlfriends every week. Tommy knew the type.

"Right, sorry. I'm George," George greeted, taking off his glasses entirely and putting them in his bag. "And this dumbass is Sapnap." He pointed to the boy that waved Tommy over. "We're in period three of Phil's class, and he let slip that one of his kids was gonna be in here today. Just transfer in?"

"I'm not his kid." Tommy took a deep breath, trying to untwist the nervous knot in his stomach. "But yes, I just moved here. Entirely not of my own will. If it were up to me I'd still be living in the city."

Sapnap cringed. "You're better off here, trust me. Take the seat right here?" He pointed to the spot right next to him.

"Why?"

"Because I like to cheat off smart kids." Sapnap said the line with a straight face, and Tommy internally groaned. So he had been a bully. He moved to take the seat and Sapnap and George simultaneously burst out laughing. "You just accepted that?"

"Yes?" Tommy kicked his backpack under the desk. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Run for the hills. There's still time to do that, actually. I suggest you take your chance and get away from them before it's too late." Dream deadpanned. Tommy looked away, not trusting that he was serious. They seemed like a bunch of tricksters. "I'm just kidding, they only annoy me." Dream earned himself a smack to the back of the head from Sapnap.

"On a serious note, though, how'd you get in this class? It's hard for me and I'm in the grade it's targeted for." George leaned over the desk. "Did you cheat on the placement test or something? This class is really hard if you don't know what you're doing."

"Who cheats on a placement test?" A little disbelief crept into Tommy's voice. "No, I didn't, I just answered all the questions. Probably got em right, since I ended up here."

The three of them exchanged a glance, and Tommy actually groaned this time. "I get it now. Phil told you three to watch me."

"No!" George tried to defend himself. "Well, yes, but he told us not to actually talk to you. Said you didn't like it."

"So why are you?" Tommy tried to ignore him, pulling out a book and pretending he was enjoying it. "Are you listening to Phil's orders or ignoring them?"

"Both?" Dream turned back around. "We just wanted to meet you. It's not every day a kid is in Phil's class and here as well, y'know? Phil's a really talented teacher, so his class is super hard."

"It seemed less than mediocre to me." Tommy flipped a page, not looking up, but didn't miss the look George and Dream shared. He couldn't catch their expressions, however. "God, stop doing that. You do it all the time."

"We've done it once!" George defended.

But that wasn't true, was it? Tommy felt like he'd seen them do it a hundred times before, in this same spot. Their friendship went way back, far enough for them to have been doing it for years. "Liar."

The bell rang, saving him from any more conversation, and the teacher finally strode in, spewing apology after apology. Tommy closed his book, glad to be distracted from George, Dream, and Sapnap, pretending not to notice the note that they were trying to pass to him.

\---

The math wasn't as hard as George made it sound. Tommy was relieved to find he would get a pass on some of the homework, since he hadn't been around for the first few months of the year. January was a bad time to start going to school but hey, it wasn't like Tommy had a say. At least he got to skip some work.

He stood, sighing, ready to go to lunch, when an arm was thrown around him. For a moment he tensed, and it felt like the tension in the air had changed, but so minutely that Tommy barely registered it. 

"Hey, Tommy! The name's Sapnap, you're Phil's kid right?" Sapnap grinned, and Tommy just frowned at him. 

"Real funny." He pushed away, but there was a look of understanding on Dream's face and he jumped at Tommy. Tommy jumped a mile high and ducked, waiting for the blow to land, but when he looked back up Dream was just standing there, as if he had jumped and then stopped. "What's going on?"

"Sapnap tried to play a joke on you so I tried to scare him." Dream shrugged, as if it were completely normal. Tommy scowled. He had almost forgotten they were a bunch of jesters in the time since the class started.

"Whatever." Tommy pushed past, ignoring Sapnap's wheezing call for him to come back.

There was no way he was going to go face lunch. There was a huge flow of students heading in the same direction, pushing Tommy like he was in a strong river. Nope, nope, nope, it was way too loud, his ears were already beginning to throb. Tommy ducked into the nearest bathroom, going into a stall and locking the door. He crouched on the toilet and pulled out his lunchbox, happy to sit on his own. Not like he wasn't used to it.

Besides a few kids coming in to vape, the bathroom stayed empty throughout lunch. Apparently he hadn't chosen the one closest to the lunchroom. Tommy ate half of his sandwich, stomach cramping up before he was able to have the rest or any of the chips he'd packed. 

He tossed the rest into the trash and sat back down, making sure he wasn't visible from outside the stall. Tommy pulled out his book, still perching precariously on the toilet seat, and resigned to reading for the rest of lunch.

\---

Third period passed without incident, luckily. The car ride home was quiet but not comfortably so, like Phil wanted to say something but didn't. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and Tommy looked straight ahead, debating whether or not he should try to strike up a conversation. Was Phil the kind of foster parent that demanded he talk and be civil, or the kind that wanted nothing to do with him? Phil kind of seemed fine with either. Tommy frowned, why did it have to be confusing? Pick one or the other.

Phil, luckily, interrupted Tommy's inner conflict by talking. "So... I heard you sat with Dream and his friends in second period."

Tommy's eyebrows inched up just a little. Word certainly did spread fast. He took note. "Um, yeah. They seem...... nice." He thought back to the pranks they'd already pulled, and as if Phil was reading his mind he suddenly burst into laughter.

"They're nice if you know them well enough. Until then, you probably won't understand half of what they think is humor. Trust me, it took me over three months to get to know them."

"Oh." Tommy chuckled awkwardly, more out of obligation than actual amusement. "Okay."

"Is everything okay?" Phil suddenly asked. Tommy glanced over and found his brow was furrowed. "You seem quiet. Er, quieter than usual. I can't quite figure you out yet. I'd like to, but..."

But Tommy was always hiding himself. He sighed. "I'm a pretty open book once I know who you are."

A lie. He rarely opened up to fosters. Phil seemed pleased, however, smiling as he pulled into the driveway. "Alright. If you'd like, you can join us for movie night. Techno will probably make popcorn, but no promises on it being very good."

Tommy felt a little something in his chest twinge. He had missed family moments like this. But he'd stayed a full week. There was a plan he needed to put in action and he needed to do it now. But... Phil wasn't supposed to know that. "That... that sounds like fun. I'm in." 

Phil sagged with relief, patting Tommy on the shoulder. "Alright, mate. It'll be right after dinner, I can call you down or you can just stay if you eat with us. For now, you're welcome to do as you please."

Tommy gave him a tight grin, grabbing his bag and heading inside. He moved as if on autopilot, there were things he needed to get done in a specific order. First... "Is it alright if I take a snack? I dropped my food at lunch when someone bumped me." 

Phil nodded, clearly still pleased that Tommy was coming to Family Bonding Night. "Yeah, of course."

Tommy knew Phil was watching, so he only grabbed a single bar. That would carry him for hours, though, which was good enough. He waved a little and jogged up the stairs, relieved to drop the act once Phil wasn't looking. They'd been clever to keep him from getting food out of the pantry, but not quite smart enough. Tommy knew where the key was, obviously, they'd done a shoddy job of hiding it, but he wasn't confident in his ability to sneak around, not after the first incident. 

It was also less suspicious to work inside their radar. They were clearly expecting him to steal it all at once, not build up a stash of food. He would Techno to let him in, and then grab one bar, sometimes stuffing a second or third up his hoodie sleeve, so that by the time Wednesday rolled around Tommy had ten bars, not counting the one he'd just taken. So step one complete.

The next was clothes. He had a few different changes of clothes but he couldn't bring all of them, since they took up too much room in his bag. He did, however, bring one shirt to change into. If they decided to put out a notice that he'd gone missing, a white and red tee was going to be glaringly obvious. So he grabbed a blue shirt, no less conspicuous but much safer, all things considered.

Water. That was difficult, he couldn't fit too much. But Tommy had a rather large water bottle that he'd taken from the kitchen on Saturday, and he could fill it up with water at drinking fountains. For the first stretch of his running away, however, he would leave it empty. Tommy wouldn't be thirsty for some time, and the bottle would just weigh him down.

All that was left, considering Tommy knew how to run and take care of himself alone, was getting out of the house. He needed to climb out his second floor window, and there was what looked like an alrm on it, but Tommy was willing to bet Phil wouldn't mind him letting the breeze in. If an alarm went off, the bag would go under his bed and Tommy would say he just wanted fresh air.

As if the universe was listening, however, the latch popped easily and the window slid open without so much as a squeak. Tommy shouldered his bag, grinning, and put one leg out the window. It was good that there was a small roof covering the wrap around porch, one that would keep him from falling and breaking an ankle. He'd examined it from below on Tuesday after school and found it to be sound and sturdy. Phil told him it had been replaced after a tree fell onto it just a few months before Tommy arrived. Lucky.

He popped the screen, setting it down quietly. His heart began to pound as he put one leg out the window, then the other. Tommy sat like that for a second, rolling his shoulders to make sure the backpack wasn't caught on anything, and pushed himself-

"Hey, Tommy, dad says you- HEY!"

Tommy was suddenly yanked back inside, limbs flailing as he fell on his back. Wilbur stood over him, scowling madly. "Are you fucking joking? You're trying to run right now?" He looked livid. Something must have happened at school. Wilbur grabbed him by the collar and pulled Tommy back up.

"Wilbur, I-"

"Are you kidding me? Now? Tommy. We have done literally nothing wrong." Wilbur's breathing was heavy, face clouded with anger. "And all you've done in return is take from us and hide. Phil took you in, put you in school, fed you, and he would have given you support if you wanted it! But no, you wanted to hide in here, so he gave you space and time, made us do the same, so we waited for you to be ready! But no, you can't appreciate anything, so you're hiding during lunch and mooching off us instead."

"I'm sorry, bu-" Tommy began to try and pull away, heart beating too fast too fast too fast-

"Don't fucking apologize. We've- Phil's handed you everything and this is how you repay him? How are you so fucking ungrateful? When I first came here I was tripping over my own goddamn feet to help Phil out, Techno was too! And he kept us, Tommy, just like he wants to keep you for some fucking reason because he likes you! And not us anymore, apparently! All you've done is hide in here, but it's all 'Tommy this' and 'Tommy that'. I'm fucking sick of you." 

Tommy thrashed hard enough and finally freed himself from Wilbur's grip, only to be shoved backward. He would have regained his balance if not for the backpack still on his shoulders. He fell to the floor, cracking his head against the wall. Tommy saw stars, breathing irregular and fast-paced. Where could he go? Was Wilbur going to hit him? "Wil, I-"

"Don't call me Wil. Don't fucking call me Wil, you're not my fucking brother. We're not your family, but he wants you to be so bad. Maybe you should leave. We'd be happier without you."

"I- I'm trying my hardest to-"

"Try harder."

With that, Wilbur stalked from the room, slamming Tommy's door hard enough to make him jump.

For a moment Tommy sat there in silence, not daring to move in case Wilbur wanted to come back. Once he counted to thirty, Tommy let himself cry. He shed the backpack, climbing into bed and wrapping his shaking arms around himself. "I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," He whispered, rocking as he tried to muffle his crying with his knees. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm trying, I'm-"

Wilbur's voice echoed through his head, as if to mock him.

Try harder.

***

Hello.

It seems you all feel you cannot trust me. Maybe I sound secretive, but there are some things I cannot say. I suppose maybe you should take my advice, then. I feel... sad about that, I will be honest. But this is a short time in my life, one that will be gone in the blink of an eye, taking you all with it.

Who said I was from your universe, Rose? Maybe I was never telling a tall tale, but recounting a story as I remember it. Though I have already said I remember nothing of who I once was, so I suppose you can see through that lie quite easily. Or maybe I was lying when I said that.

I suppose you'll never know. Maybe someday, but right now my opinion is still that you should never know who I truly am, as I myself do not. 

Aster, I wish I could build up something new. I am, at the moment, a blank slate. ʞuıɥʇ I. But that's not my problem. My problem is that I have no desire to continue on as I am now. I only know the answer is not death. I wish it was, sometimes, but I feel there is more to my existence, that there's some greater purpose. Maybe telling this story is my purpose. 

I have no passion. I do not know what my passions were, or what they are supposed to be. I've lost all anchor to personhood, dear reader.

Maybe I am not greater than you after all. Maybe I am less.

Maybe I just need sleep.

On that note, ̵̺̬̱̼͓͚̰̰̇̇̊͌̀̕ɯ̸̢̪͚̘͌͜ǝ̸̱͔͕̫̝̦̥͙͗̑̇̑̿ɥ̵̣̰̝̺͍̫̙̈́̊̀̓ʇ ʇsnɹʇ ʇou oᗡ, I shall say my goodbyes for now.

See you next chapter, reader.

-The Narrator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL I HAD A FUCKING BLAST WITH THIS CHAPTER CAN U TELL


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ready to smack myself upside the head for taking the narrator so seriously frfr
> 
> OHOHOHOHO YOU GUYS I JUST CHECKED WHAT THE NEXT CHAPTER IS SUPPOSED TO BE- I'VE BEEN HYPED FOR THESE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS SINCE BEFORE I WROTE THE FIRST ONE GET R E A D Y

Eret, panted, running through the streets, unable to stop glancing behind him at every small noise. His legs burned painfully, chest on fire from exertion. He needed to stop, and he needed to do it now. He searched for an alley or spot to sit, finding one not too far away. He prayed it wasn't occupied, tearing down the street and throwing himself at the wall. He leaned there for a moment, eyes closed, trying to catch his breath, before-

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?

Eret's head shot up, and he swore under his breath. "Hi- I'm--" They held up a hand, struggling to breathe. "Eret. I'm Eret."

"Hi." One of the kids greeted. Eret scanned over the group. Holy hell, they were kind of scary. Four boys and a girl. Two of the boys were tall, almost as tall as Eret, and the others had a definitely dangerous aura around them.

𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺

Eret frowned. He hadn't been able to pick out the first voice, as it could have been any of them, but this was definitely the girl. "Why are you all out here?" He didn't want to get on their bad side, keeping his hands in plain view. They looked rough around the edges.

"Why are you?" The tallest, with blond hair and a thin scowl, narrowed his eyes. 

Eret laughed breathlessly, no humor in the sound. "You know how it is. One second you're welcome at home, and the next you try to come out and..." He gestured to the bruise forming over his eye. "Yeah."

One of them whistled. "Same here. Or- we've never talked about it, but we're all stuck out here too. The name's Wilbur." One of the taller boys offered up his hand. Eret took it cautiously. "This is Niki," He gestured to the blonde girl. Eret could imagine her hair may be strawberry blonde in the sun. "Sam," He pointed to the blond that had glared at Eret before. "And these two are Techno and Fundy, in that order." He pointed in turn at a brunet and a ginger. Eret whispered their names under his breath, trying to put them to memory.

"Nice to meet you all."

𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮?

Eret frowned at the words. Without hearing their voices enough, he couldn't tell who was thinking what. He focused in on just Wilbur, who seemed to be deep in thought, trying to consolidate just his inner voice.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘌𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱. 𝘚𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴...? 𝘋𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴? 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦? Wilbur glanced to Techno, frowning. Eret gritted his teeth. Of course his luck hadn't turned. They were hiding something from him. 

"Well, I'll be going th-"

"No, stay!" The girl, Niki, forced a thin smile. "It's safer if you stay with us, really. Plus, we could all use another warm body when it gets cold out here. Trust me when I say it's way worse without having someone to keep you warm."

She tried to sound comforting, but... Eret closed his eyes, honing in on her thoughts. Her aura was distinctly sweet, a coral pink. He hadn't entirely expected that. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨- 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱. 𝘈𝘩, 𝘤'𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥! She glanced to Wilbur. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳...

Eret relaxed, smiling. "Okay. I'll stay. I don't really know how to get around out here, anyway. And I think my parents called the cops. Just a heads up."

Techno shrugged, grinning lazily. "Oh, trust me, the cops want us too."

"That's so dark sounding." Sam punched Techno in the arm. "We bolted after they tried to send us home is all. We're no criminals."

"Speak for yourself." Wilbur laughed

Eret chuckled awkwardly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵. 𝘚𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵. 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵.

Eret let out a quick breath through his nose. Something was up. He would stay with them, but he couldn't trust them, not at all. "Hey, you're not planning to stab my in my sleep or anything, right?"

"Of course not?" Techno looked at him suspiciously. "What gave you that idea?"

"Just..." Eret glanced between the members of the group, suddenly aware of how he was stand opposite everyone else. "I dunno. Hard to trust out here, I guess?"

"Oh, right." Sam smiled, beckoning him over. "Got any food? If you'd like to share we can dish it out, I don't think we've eaten for quite a while."

"Um..." Eret dug through his backpack. "I can look."

***

Hello

Q, I'm sorry I never answered your question. I don't know what my favorite genre of music is, but it does bring back a.... fuzzy memory. As if from a dream. I think music was important to me, many years ago. It comes with a feeling of warmth, the thought of music. Maybe..... maybe I should try listening again.

I have nobody to love, Q. Everyone I loved.... I feel they left me. I think they left me alone a long time ago, abandoned me in some way. I don't want to talk about it. As for emotions and the wind, I think I could feel if I wanted to. I just... I don't want to. I think it would hurt.

Jordie says I should sleep. I can't say I disagree. However, writing this is all-consuming as of late. Oh well. I'll sleep once I finish putting this tale down. 

Someone asked me, so I guess I'll answer. I go by the Narrator because I have no other name. Or, at least, none I can remember. I miss having a name, I think.

Plia, Jorj, Rain, you have done something nobody has done for quite a long time. Offered me, however small, a form on companionship. It makes me feel.... I don't know. It makes me feel something. Maybe I was wrong, then, maybe it wouldn't hurt to feel. I don't know. I don't know. ɓuıɥʇʎuɐ ʍouʞ ʇ,uop ı

s̶̳̺̭̮̫͒̀͐̑̓͒ṫ̴̟̱̩̃ȍ̶͇̗̦̼̖̦̙͇̏̓p̵̧̢̛͎̝̦͎͖͆̑͋ ̴͎̥̰̞͎̟̙̬̙̒̓̐͗̈̂͗̊ͅt̸̢͙̖̣̰͎͍̫̖͛̀͌͆̌͌͗̕͘r̵̙̫̳̈́̈ũ̶͍͍̺͈̃̑̀̕͠s̷̨̢̢̭͕̖̬̔̾͒͆̆̕͝t̸̟̜̤͔̖̙̯̹̕i̷̺͓͕̟̅̀͒̎̀̍̒n̷̻̭̐͝ͅg̸̨̙̼̹̝̗͇͑̚ ̷̧̲̙̭̠̭͔̣̖̊̈́͐͑̚͠ẗ̴̖̫͎̠́̋̏̏̿̐̅̃̒̏ḣ̸̭̫̼̜̮̍͊̄ȩ̴̳̹̌̒̓̽̃̀̚m̸̰͌͋̊͒̓̃̌͝

...

.......

I have no new wisdom for you, reader.

Until next we speak

-The Narrator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eret's mind reading was a bitch to make happen istg- i had to copy paste italics because they don't copy over from google drive and using the rich text option in ao3 doesn't work for me (different formatting) so i'm stuck constantly worried about losing my work gnfaajdksjaks 
> 
> this may be the last time we ever read from their perspective lmao
> 
> but!!!! on a fun note, i think i'm going to make this a series! not with more "plot plot", but i have so many headcanons and backstories for the characters that i may not get to explore in this fic that it would just be a crime to not continue this AU


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cw for throwing up (but it's not graphic), and a panic attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guysimliterallyintearsholyhelltysmforallthecomments
> 
> i honestly can't believe this is the same fic where i was begging for comments in the early chapters to keep my motivation up- just wow, thank you all so much
> 
> and it's probably fitting that this chapter is one i've been hyped as hell to write forever, the narrator arc is slowly coming together, etc.

Tommy sighed, standing at the door to Phil's classroom. He didn't want to go to his real second period, since he'd have to sit by Dream, Sapnap, and George again. He remembered what Phil had said about his second period being for studying and extra help, something Tommy didn't really need but could pretend he did. He didn't have a pass, but... Tommy shook his head. The idea of Phil screaming at him didn't feel right. He was too kind looking. Tommy found himself trying to picture the way the man's face would twist with rage, and he shuddered before peeking in the open door.

Phil was standing over some students hunched at a table, giving them pointers with homework. One of the girls- Minx, Tubbo had pointed her out on their walk around the school back on Monday- had her hands cupped around an eraser. Tommy watched, confused, trying to listen in. Wilbur was trying to give her pointers-- Tommy focused, and he was able to distinguish the words being spoken from the general clamor of the hallway.

"Minx, put all your mind into it. Just a little more." Wilbur egged her on, voice careful.

"Hold your horses, Wil. Minx, I know you've got trouble with the smaller objects, but shrinking this was easy, just put that mindset into it again. We've got the measurements written down this time, you only need a little more so it matches-"

Tommy's head shot up. Shrinking? Growing? He turned so he was looking in again. He watched Minx's face contort with concentration and his heart nearly stopped when he watched, with his own two eyes, the eraser grow. It wasn't by much, and for a second he thought he'd imagined it, but the classroom erupted with cheers and hoots.

Tommy stumbled back, running into someone he didn't recognize. He mumbled an apology, stomach twisting with fear. What had he just seen? What the hell was that? He might throw up. Tommy stumbled, remembering where the bathroom he'd eaten lunch in was, and fell over the toilet just in time to spit up what little he'd had in his stomach. He shook for a moment, clutching the walls and dry heaving before standing up and wiping his lip.

He managed to lock the door to the whole bathroom, thanking whatever gods there may be that it had a lock both on the stalls and on the door leading in, and stumbled to the mirror. His hands were shaking and clammy, his face pale. Tommy's eyes were wide, stomach still rolling with nerves. What had he seen? What had he seen? 

"What the fuck," He whispered to the still air. "What the fuck did I just see?"

His imagination ran wild for a minute. Tommy pictured them finding out that he knew, what they could do to him. He'd already seen how Wilbur looked when he was livid, and didn't want to see how anyone else would look when they were that angry. He shuddered, chills dancing up and down his arms.

There were a few minutes where Tommy sat, silently rocking. Thank god he had learned how to cry silently. After a bit, he realized his arms were burning with pain, and he loosened his grip, noticing how his nails left deep red indents in his skin, and his throat burned. His throat burned? Tommy's heart was pounding, breaths shallow and fast too fast too fast too fast how had he not noticed how how how-

"Fuck, shit, shit, shit, fuck, fuck-" He sobbed in between breaths, nearly choking from the effort, only making it worse. He rocked more violently, tears streaming down his face, not caring how horrible he must look, until-

There came a knock on the door. "Hello?" Sam's voice came through the door. Had Tubbo sent him? He'd said Sam was his older brother while going over the households. The only thing Tommy had really retained was that Tubbo and Sam lived together. "Who's in there?"

The door handle rattled slightly. Tommy managed to choke out, "Go away. Occupied."

There was a long pause, before "...Tommy? Are you okay?"

The concern in Sam's voice was so.... genuine. Tommy buried his face in his knees, digging his nails into his palms, but a tiny whimper slipped out anyway. Fuck. Sam must have heard it, there was no denying what was happening, so... "No."

"Open the door, then. Can I help you? What's happening?"

\---

Sam wrung his hands anxiously. It seemed like an eternity since he asked Tommy to open up, but in reality it had probably just been a few seconds. He glanced up and down the empty hallway. Was someone bullying Tommy? What was going on?

After far too long, the door clicked open. Sam immediately shoved his way in, shutting the door behind him. Tommy was on the floor, shaking hard and pale as a ghost. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you okay? Breathe, breathe, shh," Sam knelt down, not sure if he should try and give Tommy a hug. Did that make these kinds of situations better? Shit, shit, he didn't know. Sam reached out a hand awkwardly, pulling it back when Tommy flinched. 

"C-can't- breathe-" Tommy shoved out. 

"Do you want a hug? It'll help match your breaths, I promise." Sam didn't know what else to offer. When Tubbo had panic attacks (which had luckily become few and far between in recent months), he needed hugs and hot cocoa, and he didn't know what others might want. 

But luckily it seemed to work. Tommy nodded violently and practically clawed his way into Sam's arms, burying his head in his chest and shaking like a leaf in the wind. Sam deepened is breaths, trying to set a pace Tommy could hope to match. "Try and copy me, okay? Slow down, it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay." He rubbed slow circles in Tommy's back in time with his breaths, hoping it might help. Miraculously, it did. Tommy slowly relaxed, letting go of his death grip on Sam's shirt, and stopped shaking as badly.

He hiccuped, leaning back to wipe at his eyes. "Thank you," He croaked, "I.... thank you."

"Of course." Sam leaned back, propping himself up against the wall. "Can you tell me what happened? Why were you freaking out? If you're not comfortable telling me, that's perfectly fine too."

"No, I- I want to be sure I'm not... crazy." Tommy licked his lips, as if trying to get a bearing on his thoughts. Sam's heart stopped. What had he seen? Had he.... did he know about...? "I just... I wanted to skip math, so I went to study in Phil's classroom for second period, but I looked in and.... I don't know why I sat in the doorway, but I saw... you wouldn't, like, hurt me if I sounded insane, right?"

"No, of course not." Sam tried to tell himself it would be fine, nothing was wrong, but-

"I saw... I saw Minx, like, making something grow? An eraser. And everyone was egging her on, like it was a cool project, and they were measuring and everything and I just want to know I'm not going insane because if I was I don't know what I would do please tell me I'm not losing my mind."

Sam took a deep breath. "Tommy... you're not crazy."

"...I'm not?" Tommy took a shaky, relieved breath. "That's good to hear. So then wh-"

"But I'm going to do something that you're not going to like very much." Sam steeled his nerves, reaching up to lock the door. "And I'm sorry, because I know you've been through some awful shit, I can explain how I know that someday, but... this is really going to suck for you."

"Sam, Sam- what are you doing?" Tommy scrambled back, looking conflicted on whether he should fight or scream for help. Sam didn't give him time to decide. In one clean motion he swooped down, pushing Tommy to the floor. "Sam, stop!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's the rules, I don't want to, but..." He let the wave of warmth flow over him, making his fingertips tingle as if with static electricity, and if Sam's eyes had been open the tiles would have started to bleed together. He focused on just the last day of Tommy's life, that was a safe bet. He could feel Tommy wriggling, trying to shove him away, but Sam tunnel-visioned on the task at hand, and...

He wiped it clean. Sam scrubbed hard at the spot in Tommy's memory, praying he hadn't somehow mucked it up.

Tommy finally went still.

***

Reader.

I've been given a name. Lark called me Aaina. They then asked if I had one of my own, a name that I wanted to be used instead. My only answer is... no. I think I might have once. Any humanity in me is gone now.

And yet...

Emotions are a very human thing, yes? Intangible and hard to explain, but they are entirely mortal. Or, at least, they indicate you are flesh and blood. Over my lifetime I have read hundreds of religious texts and almost all of them write their gods with emotions, for better or worse, but could that just be humans projecting? After all, someone without emotions, without compassion, can be the most terrifying thing in the world to some people. 

I'm rambling.

Lark, you asked about me. You seemed sorry that your perceptions of me have been shaped by assumptions and not true facts, but vague ideas are all I have. I know not of myself.

Em called me a friend today. Lark ended all their messages with "love".

ġ̷̨̨̢̡͍̞̘̘͓̿̏̃̈́͋̇̌͝ȉ̵̭̭͎̹̊̏͐̍͊͒͘͠v̶̧̧̢̗͓̦̱̬͎̈̃̔̈̅͋͜ȩ̴̩̈̒̎͋͌͊̃ ̶̖͙̖̥̿̓͒̈́͂̆̿͜i̴̬͚̼͗̍̒t̷̡̺̹͓͆̆̇ ̸͕̰̳̯̙̖̋̃̐̾͘̕͝ự̶̭̙̝͚̹͋̓̓̚p̵̧̧̛̩̃̎

What do I truly mean to you? 

I have felt more in the past few days than I have in.... weeks, months, years, I do not know how long.

I do not want my hope to be false, but at the same time I'm yearning for the safety of indifference. I do not want you to hate me, but I am terrified you like me.

ɯ̴̻̻̦̞͍̆̓͑ǝ̸̪̞̺̹̱͑̾̑̏̔̀̔ɥ̶̡͎̱̯͚̳̜̝̋̕ʇ̸͙̭̯̈́͗̈́̂ ̷͓͈̩͚͘ȯ̵̠͛̒ʇ̶͔̿ ̵͇̞͙̳͔̤̎͊̈́͠ɓ̵͖͇̂̍̐̔́͒̅̊u̸͓͖͙͎̤̔̆̀͠ı̸̧̧̛̘͇̙̘̰͊͆̇̎̃̎̓̃͘ʞ̶̻̯͛̃̾͂̾͒͘l̴̡̢͍̬̫̦̓̉̑͊̂̃͌̚͝ͅɐ̸̧̛̱̟̺̂͛́́̀̽ʇ̸̣͓̯͑͛̃̏͗͒͘̕͝ ̶̱̬̝̂̉͑̉̑͛͐͛̓͜͝ɓ̸͎͉̤́̽̉̅̽ͅu̵̜̰̰͖̱̺̺͒̓̉͗́̊͛͠ı̶̛̙̍͆̓ʞ̵̩̬̦̰͓̽̾̂̇͊̔͝͠ɔ̵̧̻̘̻̦͆ṋ̷́̒ɟ̸̡̲̯̱̏͛͑͝ ̷̛̞͇̪̑͑̇͗͊ď̶̞͖̻̤̓͌̇̉̽̕õ̴̡̱̟͘͘ʇ̵̦͍̪̬̒̂͋̓̇̀͗s

..

until next. reader. i do not feel well.

-the narrator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alright i'm writing this on a different computer and i hate it but the grind never stops bby
> 
> here's a list of all the known/hinted at powers because i want to not be confusing (and there's a whole lotta characters)
> 
> techno: speed healing  
> sam: memory erasure (there's more but this is all i've said so far)  
> fundy: chameleon  
> niki: "ghostly" for lack of a better term  
> minx: changing the size of things  
> eret: mind reading
> 
> hinted at:  
> phil's ability gauge  
> puffy's empath abilities  
> dream/sapnap/george ??? (i've hinted at two of their powers. do with that what you will.)  
> i rlly wanna know what you all think tommy's power is  
> it's not odd for ranboo to wake up somewhere he definitely didn't fall asleep in, i'll let you all connect those dots

Eret ran.

He did it in the dead of night, pulling himself free of the warm pile and grabbing his backpack, jogging out of the alley. 

Now, if Wilbur had been sleeping, he might not have noticed. But he was awake, fully, just listening to the night. When Eret started running, Wilbur's ears followed him long after he turned the corner. It felt as if they were right next to each other, though Wilbur knew he was still lying on the ground. Eret's breaths were ragged, feet keeping a quick rhythm as his heart pounded. Wilbur's eyes snapped open, and when they adjusted he found he was still in the alley. Immediately the connection was lost, his focus broken.

For a moment he wondered if it had been a dream, if Eret was still there... but no, he had truly left, and Wilbur had been able to hear him all the way. He shook Niki's shoulder until she roused, blinking slowly at him. "'S everything okay?" She slurred, rubbing one eye. "Late."

"Nikks, I-" Wilbur glanced back to make sure he hadn't gone mad. "Eret's run, and I think I discovered my power."

\---

Eret ran, not looking back. As soon as he hadn't been able to hear their minds murmuring from sleep, he knew he was safe. Still, he sprinted several blocks before stopping, leaning against a wall to wheeze. He could probably be in better shape.

He sat in silence for a minute, just letting deep breaths shudder their way in and out of his lungs before sitting, pulling an old dinner roll out of his bag. It had been on the counter when he first left home, still warm by the time he ran into Wilbur and the others. He had kept it to himself, out of what could have been selfishness or a feeble attempt of holding onto a life he no longer had. It still smells vaguely of home, fresh baked bread and-

Tears pricked at Eret's eyes. He didn't let them fall, biting into the roll instead. It had hardened just slightly, but the taste was still clean and comforting. He sighed, chewing and letting his head fall back against the brick wall.

It was there that he sat, so lost in his own memories of home that he didn't bother scanning the area for any familiar head-voices.

"Eret!" Fundy's voice bounced conspicuously off the alley walls, "We found you!"

Fuck. Eret scrambled to his feet, half-choking on his last bite of roll, and found the alley was entirely a dead end. He reached out, looking into Fundy's mind to try and see his intentions. It was too hard to pick out a clear line of thought, his brain was jumbled and Eret was so tired that Fundy's thoughts mingled, meshed with Techno's, Wilbur's, Niki's, and Sam's, until it was just a big jumble of words. it drove him mad.

"I know you're hiding something from me." Eret chose the easy path, the one that could very well get him gutted but was straightforward enough that his mind could comprehend it. "I know you are."

"Well, Eret, the thing is- hold on, how do you-"

"How did you find me?" Eret interrupted Sam, not wanting to let him ask the full question. "Answer me."

"I... Well, Eret, the thing is-"

A car door slammed. And in response, Fundy disappeared and Niki fell halfway into the concrete with a yelp. Their inner voices became amplified, higher pitched, and Eret clutched his head. Inner voices sucked.

"That explains- are you alright?" 

Eret registered Techno slide next to him, wrap an arm around his shoulder. Suddenly all the inner voices grew in volume, pressing at the sides of his head and building pressure inside his brain, making his vision go blotchy until-

With a sharp cry, Eret blacked out.

***

ṡ̸͔̩ţ̴̙̻̣̥͚͚̱͛̎̔̔̓̉̏̈́͘̚o̴̙͗̓̓p̵̨̢͍̺̘̱̘̗̬͖̍̋̎̈́̓̓͌͘.̵̡̳͇̖̪̣̹̔̿̑̚ͅ ̵̡̢̣͕̲̰̓͐̃̑̈́̕͝͠s̵̼͆͆͑͆͗̊̓̚̚t̷̢̛͇̱̮̬͙͔̔̽̓̽̽͂̒̕͜͠o̷̡̙̱̳̤̘̊̋̔̈́̔̎̚̚p̸͚͓̮̎͆̏͒͋̊͝.̵̨̻̬̺͔̘̅̓͂̃͆̂̋͂ͅ ̸̧͖̟̬̱̖͔̗͔͓̒͌͑͗̊͂̆̚s̴̨̧̻͎̮̪̘͉̭̳̄͊̆̂̏̍̀̀ţ̵̛͖͈͙̈́̃̋̚͠͝ô̶̳̻̐̈̍̉̓͝͝p̷̦̳͇̟̽̒.̵̢̡̱̗̯̖̐̃̉̏̏̾̍̇͝͝ ̵̞͍̻̣̒ş̶̹̺̼͇̓͆̍̾̋̃̕̚̕t̸͍̝͇̯̞̲̞̠̱͉̆͐͑o̸̠͙͑͆̌̕p̴̢̪̣͙̜͓̣̱̀̾̈́͂̓̌͂͌͒̔.̷̨͖̹͍͌̎̌̏̑̅̑ ̷̼̩͍̚s̴͓̘̤̯̞͙̙̄̌͋t̷̟͚̼̹̼̩̙̬̄̍̅͊̄͠o̷͇͚̬͂̈́̎͌̉̋̚͠ṗ̶̧̛̞̞͊̄̾̎̚.̵̜̅̄͐͊͘ ̸̞͔̥̱̫͎̋̑̓̾̊̒̔̇̎̕ș̶̛̫̄́͗̊̊̆̕͠t̴̫̠̰̗͉̘̬̮͝o̸̗̠̱̘̙̓͑͆͋̇̓̔̕͠p̷͕̣͖̈́̒͋̋̎͂̂͛͠.̶̺̳͔̱͍̫̠̦̳̭́̈́̒͛̍̂̈́̓̈̒ ̷̲̯̅̐̋̽ͅs̵̪̼̽̑͗͗̐̾̒t̴̨͈͕͇͇̉̊̓̀͜͠͝o̴̻̚p̸̻͕̏̓̓̚.̴̖̰̘͙̳̬̎̈́͛̈́̈́̈̌̓͝ ̶̨̛͇̮͇̲̟͉̆̒͗̂͘ͅs̷̨̗̙͇͇̲̭̝̾͌͂̃̈́̈́̇̚͜ͅt̷̛̮̎̆̒͆̅̈̌̌͘o̷͈̭̕p̴̩̐̾̈́͂̑̈́̕̕͠͝.̵͇̌̓̕ ̵̢̡̹̯̥͇̂̅̓͜͝͠s̴͈̫̱̔̏͂̓͝͠t̵̨̡̝̻̼̯̒͐o̵̘͔̼͋͌p̵̦̳͕̉̈͊̈̉̒͒̐͝ͅ.̶̪͖̲̼̖͇ ̷̠̤͚͉̤̥̰̯̅͗̐͌̏͛͂͝s̶͈͎͖͉̭̹̞͕̻͊̚͜ț̷̫̣̤̬̜̺͗͊õ̶͎̤͙̏́̓̅͘p̷̢̖̭̯͈̔̕.̸̭͋͋̑̏ ̸̢̡̨̺͙͙̥̼͚̮̂̂̈́͝ş̵̗͔͔̖͕̈̓͛̔̀̉͋͘͜t̶͈̬̻̊͗̔̾̔̿̓̔͜o̸̡͍̝̯͆̕p̵̟̈̃.̴̣̹̈́̎̈̒͠

ỵ̶̷̴̷̶̶̴̷̶̵̶̴̷̴̴̵̶̵̵̢̧̧̧̡̨̢̢̛͓͇͙̻̱̮̟͉̜͖̲͎͉̗̻͓͖̮̹͇̦̩̘̗̫̱̰̩͎͇̣̯͈̫̼̖̭̳̺̖͖̬̬͉͉̻̭͔͖̗̭͍̼̞͔͓̮̻̞̹̗̝̲̟͉̮̹̫̪̩̖̬͔̹͎̠̮̞̼̹͎̭̭͓̻̤̹͓̫͉̹̭̳͍̤͖̭̱͙͈̖̹̦̫̞̳̻̞͌̏̎͐̌̉̂̏͆͆͗̅͌̋̑̏͆͂̄͛̄͑̈́͒̌̈́͌̒̍͋́̄̋͂̓̋͆͑̑̓͗̄̎̀̓̆́̍͐͌̄̉̌̍̐̓͌̇̇̌̎̔̀͂̒̓̄̐̉̊͗͂̊̊̍̆͛̓͑̆͘͘͘̕̚̚͘̕͜͜͜͜͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͠ͅͅơ̵̵̴̸̵̵̸̸̸̶̷̵̵̸̸̷̷̵̵̷̷̷̸̧̡̢̡̨̢̢̨̡̧̢̖͙͉̻̺̝̰̤̞̘̟̯̲̝̖͚͓̯̥̣͖̜͓͎͈͚͉͇͈̣͓̻̗̣͇͚̩̗̜̰̠̪̞̯̦̗̩͉̟̝̥̻͍̤͖͈͈̠̭̪̫̬̖̭̜̟̬̩̺̣̠̙̣̝̲͉̬̞͍̜̩̱̫̩̜͓̙̗̗͙͕̲̹̩̲̥͙̜̠̱̺͙̬͔̳͇̝̰̗̫̫̠̥̟̟̂͊͛͌̅̉͂̀̂̍̊̌̿̃͒͑͗̊̇̒̔̏̓̄͑̏̆͗̃͆̎̊̈́͆̿̂̈͊̊̄̋̑̏͊̏͊̍̽̿̇̂̃̍̉̽̓̆̃͂̐̌̓̈́̂̆̀̊̏́̈́̒̐̈͐͘̕̚̕̕̚̚͘̚̕͜͜͝͠͝͝͝͝͠͠͠ͅͅͅų̷̵̸̶̵̵̷̷̴̶̵̴̸̧̢̨̨̛̮̬͔̭̠͓͔̙̗̻̲̳̤̼̝͓̝͔̖͙̖̤̼͇̖̗̱̹͖̺̯̥̱̻͈̩̭̹͉͓͚͉͎̺̻͙̖̩̪̘̜̖͍̠̰̲̝͕̜̭̺̲̓͆͛̂͋̀̈̉̓̀̅̆̃̄̋̄͐̒̿̒̏̂͐̊̈́̄͛͐́̆̏̾̌̍̈̈́̀̃̽̔͂͒̾̉́̽̈́̾̈́̈̀̽̌̀͒͑̑͊̚̚͘̚͘͘͠͠ͅ'̴̵̸̶̸̴̸̴̴̨̫̞̫̫͓͍̞̙͓̜͙̼͔̖̠̙̗̗̭̤͈͍͙̖̭̟͎͙͕̫̟̗̟̟͉̪͕̭̮̱͙̫͈̭͎̞͓̊́̿̏͗͆̄̉̃͆̔̐̃͊̈́͛̉̅͂̿͗̃͂̓̂͐̃̑̄̈́͘̕̕̚͝͝͝͠͝ŗ̷̵̸̵̶̵̴̷̶̨̧̧̢̡̩̫̳̱͈̭͈̹̗̦͙̝̝̪̫͇͓͍̝̲͔̳̭͍̤͉̝̳̟͚̱̬͎̠̫͍̩̲̼̲̓̋̈͐̐͊͐̈́̒̍̑̔͒̉̽̓̌̈̂̽̽̈́̿̽͗̀̀͐̋͊͑̀̎͌̊̐̓̌̊̑̔͗̚̕͜͠͝ͅę̵̸̵̴̴̷̴̷̵̶̴̵̵̡̢̢̧̛̱̺̹̤̼̺̙̞͕̯͙͙̞̤̪̘͇͈̤̙̥̯̺͉͈͚̤̹͙̼̫͈̻͇̪̙͚͙̺̬̳̥͍̻͈̩͈̬͕̱̦̞̃̇͊̃̈́͂̈́̀̉̔̐͑̈́͂͗͌̾̅̓͋̆̆̾̌̈́̒̋̍̄̑̈́͆̈̊͛̃̉͛̍͑̌͊̀̊̋̓̈͛̃̿̓͑͊̍̓̕̕͘͜͜͠͝͝͝͝ͅ ̶̸̴̶̶̶̷̸̸̵̸̷̶̴̵̷̢̡̡̢̡̡̢̛̛̲̺̩̩͈̰̳̣̩̮̰͚̼̦̰̜͚̻̣̪̪̻͎̥͓͇͙̮̗̺̖̭̥͔̯̫̤̘̲̬͈̣̟̮̦̼̭̳͕̼̖̜̗̖͕̩͔̯̜̺͓̳͙̖̟̣̯̗̜̤̬͍̬̣͕͙͇̭̳͇͕̠͍̟̙͗̓̔͐̏̓̀̏̓̇̾́͊̐̾́̓̑̋̂̾͊͂̑̑̆̈͊̈̉͒͗͒͌̓̌̄̀̈́̔̓̂̋̍̑͋̈͗̅̏̊̎̓̇́͌̓͑͐̌͊̕͘͘̚͜͝͝͝͝͝͠ͅͅͅͅḧ̶̴̷̸̸̸̸̶̴̷̸̵̸̵̵̸̷̷̸̶̢̧̨̨̡̧̨̢̛̛̛̛̗̣̜͉̖̬̰̰̺͈͙̭̳͉͇̹͇̫̻̺̻͔̩̭͖͍̳̦̙̞̝̝̜̲̳̱͙͍̦̩̟̩͓̥̙̬̟̬̬̮̣̹̖̞̱̹̹̰̹̯̣͉͇̱̦͚̰͖̺̤͕̦͈̫̮̳̟̹̟̮͕͓̻̻̱͉̯̖̙̜̣͈̺͚̣̫͇̻͉̹͑̍̌̎̌̾̆͋͌́̇̇͌͑͂̌̒̍͐̈͒̊̒̊̽̀̑͋͒̈́̓̊̎̍̿̓̅̓͂̑͂͒͂͗͌̓̑̊̅̃̑͐̓̓̓̈͊̌͂͑̉̿͒̇́̈́͗͊̈́̀̿͗̑͒̇̐̾͋̅͊̾̅̊̔̓̓̂̔͋̆̽́̃͂̉̎͂͆̉̑̒̆̍̅̚̚̚̕̕̕͠͝͝͠͝ͅͅų̸̶̷̶̷̸̷̷̴̵̴̶̵̶̶̵̸̢̧̨̢̨̛̛̛̥̙̭̤͇͉̞̫̪̠̘̘͚̳̞̜̠̼͙̮̙̭̺̮̹̫͚̟̝͎͕̦͈̯̖̼̺̱̫̻̤̹̮̟̝̙͔̰͖̲͙͈̦̱̹̺̘̼̩̝̫͙̠̠͓͇̰̝͕̙̯̰̋̑̂̇͆͂̽̒̈́͗̅̏̓̂̑̈́͗͌͗̔̏̒͛̇͂͂̈́͊̓̊̏̿̽̎́̓̐̋͗̊͂̈̔̽̊̋̋͆͐̽̄͛̄̋̆̓̏̇̒͐̉̎̈́̈́̇̏̿̓͛̒̆̐͂͐͘̕̚̚̕͝͝͝͠͝͝͠͝r̴̴̶̴̶̸̸̴̸̵̷̴̶̴̷̵̵̡̢̧̧̢̨̡̨̛̛̛̛̟͇̮͙̝͕̹͔̘̦̝̦̠̙̹̫̥̲̤̲̳̯̙̣̲̘͚̝̟̹͍͉̺̞̺̭̙͖͙͎͎̪͇͙̮̰͔͈̥͎͖͇̳̳͙̻̻̙͇̦͎͙̪̹̭̠̩̭̩͕̼̜̘͉̗̥͚̮͉͍͕̩̞͓̖̭̙̠̠͈̂̍̿̏̆̌̅͐̈́̍̀̂̄͐̋̾̇̈́̾͐͗̔̔͑̏̏̉́͒̄̈́̎͑̆̉͌̈̂͆̒̉͒̿́̄͌͌̿̋̂͛͋͗̉̍̐͌̑̔̋̅̅͂͆̈́̓̎̊͐̑̍̔͌̆͐̈́̏̾͛̈́̐̆̐̍̓̔̚͘̚̕͜͜͠͠͠͝͝͝͠ͅt̶̶̶̸̸̴̷̷̵̷̷̵̷̸̢̢̨̧̧̢̛̹̖͉̬̞̖̺̳̮̠̟͕͖̲̞̝̪̱̰̗̺͔̣̗͙͍̯̳̲̥̳͇̳͇͕̻̘͔͈̯̰̗̼̼̦̩̟͎͇̙̮̱͖͖͍̪͙͓͍̭̗̙̻͔̮̗̏̐̑͂̆̐̎̂̐̿́̃́̔̿̑̔̈̆̑̌̌̋̾̄̾̂̍̔̿̈́̈̀̎̋̂͑̉̈́̔͂̆̈́̎́͌͊͋̌̏͗̽͌͗̆̅͗̈́̔̏̄̒͘̚̕̚͘̚̕͘͜͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅͅi̷̷̵̸̵̵̸̸̷̸̶̵̷̵̡̨̢̨̢̡̨̧̛̛̹̩͉̜̣̫̼̲̮̰̣̖̩̤͕̘̙̥͓̭̯̼̠̫̭̘̬̟̟̼̟͓̫̖͔̺̙̰͕̙̹̣̼̬̣͔̻̩̠͍̙̱̱͍̥̗̣͈̭̜͎̽̒̾̅̌̒̇̂̅͐̿͌̉̃̑͋̍͋̀̐͊̃̓͆͑̇̅̋͒͆̿̅̈́̈́͛̔̓̔̒̍̈̓͌͐̑͑̑͋̈̇̐̂̈́͊̓̈́͛̄͛̄̿̊̅̈̚͘̚̕̕͜͝͝͠͝n̸̴̶̶̶̸̵̴̴̴̵̵̴̵̵̡̨̧̛̛̛̛̪͕͎̣͕̻̺͙͓̘̣͚͖͕̫̱͙͔̘̺̥͓̭̱̺͇̟̖̫͎͇̪͕̙̹̪̞̤̜͕̘̜̞̫̼̮̝͍̟̙̟̰͚̮͂̑̆͊̊̃̓̒͒̎̈́̍̄̏̽̂̍̓̑̋͋̈́͑̾͆̓͋͂̃͌̈́̿̆͒̈́͌̎͛́̊͆̅̓̽̑̈́͋̃̈́̔̄́͑̿͛̉̐̌̐͂͛̓̃̂̋̍̔̍́͌͛̍͊͛́̚̚͘͜͜͜͝͠͝͠͝͠g̷̸̶̶̷̶̶̵̵̵̷̴̢̛̛̲͖̥̦̟͚͖̙͙̥͕͇̱͓̤̜̮͚̣̫̙̹͖̟̗͙̫̼̭͇̲͓̱̤̳̗͉̝̮̭̟͉̳̙̞̯̲̲̮͉̬͉̻̞̣͕̟̟̹̺͐̅͌̏̔̔̇̈́͒͊̈̓̒̋͌́̓͊̒̇̔̇̃͆̇̓̾̐̂̈́͛͆͒̒̎͊̀̍̑̍̍̂̔̉̾̌̋̿̑̉̑͘͘̕̚̕͜͠͝͠͝͠͠ͅ ̴̵̶̷̷̸̷̵̸̵̶̷̷̴̡̧̢̡̡̛̮͉͉̠̝͔̦̲̱̙̩̠̻̝̭̻̘͓̟̘̣͉̟̭͎̲͉͈̭̩͔̲̭̘͍̙̹̮̪̰̱̫̥͍͇͉̺̼̞̫̼͈̪͕̂͐̈̈́̂̋̔̃̈́̇̅̐̆̂̔̔̉̒̿̽̈́̊͒͗̋̑̅͐͊̓͋̈́͗̍̊̌͑̊͐͌͆͗̀̿̆̓͛͌͑͂͂͛̋͆̋̍̈́͆̈́̿͑̇̿̈́̽̃̇̂̚̕̚̕̚͜͠͝͝͠͝͠͠͝ͅͅm̸̸̴̸̴̴̴̸̵̧̢̮̭̩͇̮̲̺͎͔̤̯̦̘̫̹̘͓̺̼͖̝̹͉͔̦͓̭͉̟̜̙̘̪̪̳̜̲̹͕͂̉̈́̐̈́̽̐̂̆̀̂̿̈́͆͌̋̀̐̈́̇͋͆̑̒̈́̊̈͆͒̈́͂̓̐͊̐̈͘̚͜͝͠͝͝ê̵̵̷̵̸̴̴̵̶̷̴̴̶̡̧̢̢̨̡̨̧̢̨̡̨̛͔͕͈̯̱̮͈̼͕͇͚͙͈̞͖̙̗̺̹̰̙̖̪̹͚̤͇͔̮̗̼̗̖̫̭̠͚̖̝̹̰̘̖͚̔͆͂́̐̎̈̈́͆͑̿̃̌̒̊̋̉̈́̽̅͋͐̍̌̍̋̈́͆͐̇̊̋͗͗̒̇͛̉̈́̀̄͗̍̈́̃͌͐̍̇̏̓̓̒̐̄͛̈́̓̉̊͊̀͗̔̔͊̇̐͐̊͗̈̇̋̅̇̎̄͊̿͒͊̆͆̇̋̆̕͘̕̚͘͘͠͝͠͝͝͝ͅ

........................................................

........................................................................................

Hello.

-the narrator. not aaina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry folks nothing personal it's narrator angst
> 
> got three fucken arcs going on.... i am. so tired.
> 
> also i'd make the narrator say it but uh... y'know.... so i'll say it as myself: jordie go tf to bed dude that's like,,,, not healthy go drink some water, take a warm shower (if you can) and s l e e p go do some self care


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uh yeah lmao
> 
> https://discord.gg/dsCX5akzTJ

Tommy sat up, groaning. He felt slightly ill, as if he'd been in the- car? He looked around, seeing trees flash by. He couldn't have been asleep so long he missed school, right? he glanced up to the driver's seat, waiting to find- Eret? The guy who sat a few seats away in Advanced History? Driving him to school? Something felt off.

"...Eret?"

"Oh, you're up? How you feeling, man? You hit your head pretty hard there." Eret didn't look back from the road, turning a corner Tommy vaguely recognized as the one a short ways from Phil's house.

"I hit my head?" Tommy rubbed the back of his head and- yeah, it checked out. He winced, the spot throbbing painfully. "Oh, ow."

"Back at school, yeah." Eret chuckled. "Least Phil let me drive you home early. Now both of us get out of class." This time he did look back, a joking twinkle in his eye. He turned back, just in time to take another turn. "And hey, I'm not sure if I've ever asked, but what're your pronouns? I haven't heard you correct anyone but I wanna be sure."

"Oh, um." Tommy didn't want to get pronouns wrong. Were pronouns- he? She? Well, he knew that much about himself. "He. I- what about you?" He shifted awkwardly, strapping in his seat belt properly since it had locked from his lying down.

"Any of 'em, I don't really care." Eret shrugged, turning again down a street even closer to Phil's house. "You good with staying home alone? I can stick around if you want. Wilbur and Techno are kind of nerds, so they can't skip their band practice, and Phil's gotta grade, but they trust me with the safe delivery of their brother and son." They pulled into the driveway with a little hoot. "See? Safe and sound, no bumps."

"Not my dad, not my brothers. Why does everyone act like I'm immediately a part of this family?" Tommy slumped. He found he just sort of... trusted Eret. No real reason for it, he was just a trustable person. "It's getting on my nerves."

Eret sighed, turning off the engine. "I think... Well, we were all adopted. I don't think any of us live with our blood relatives, but we're close as. So, in part, we can all relate to you at least a little, but our situations are still way different. I got fostered for the first time maybe.... six or seven years ago? I can't keep exact count anymore, it's not really important. You've spent way longer in the system than we did, but nobody's used to dealing with what someone in your situation would be comfortable with. Do you want me to make everyone stop acting like you're family?"

Tommy blinked. He hadn't really been expecting an answer. "Oh, I don't want to be trouble... it's fine. I'll deal with it." He paused. "Are you all really adopted? Everyone seems so close."

The few times he'd peeked at the Advanced History kids, they seemed- wait. Tommy froze. There was... something. There was some kind of secret. He narrowed his eyes, trying to dig for it. "Hey, do you know if hitting your head can make you lose memories?"

"I think so." Eret shrugged, suddenly dismissive. "Just a few hours, or the last day or so. Why? Can you not remember something?"

A staticky feeling of alarm filled the car. Tommy felt like a cat that had been rubbed the wrong way. "Er, no, I'm just a little disoriented." He closed his eyes and counted to ten, glad that the gross, unnerving feeling dissipated.

"That's good, we don't want any emergency trips to the E.R." Eret laughed, climbing out of the car. "And you never answered, do you want me to stay?"

"I'm good." Tommy followed, grabbing his backpack and coat. "I've got work to catch up on anyway."

"Okay, maybe being fostered by Phil makes you a nerd." Eret punched him lightly in the arm before hopping back into the car. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay." Tommy waited for Eret to turn the corner before pushing up the corner of the doormat and grabbing the spare key. It had been one of the first things Phil told him before sending him off to school, that if he needed to get in there was a key.

Tommy made sure to lock the door before climbing the stairs sluggishly and falling into bed.

***

Tommy didn't want to talk to Wilbur. Actually, out of the people living in the house, Wilbur was the last person he would usually go to. But... Tommy clenched his fists, staring at the door. He needed answers, and Phil and Techno were getting groceries. Now was the best time, he didn't want to make a scene.

Tommy tensed, raising his fist, and knocked three times on the door. There was a noise of surprise and the sound of someone hitting the space key. "Come in?"

Tommy pushed open the door. Wilbur was sitting on his desk chair, fingers poised over the guitar strings. Tommy glanced to the laptop to see he'd been watching a tutorial. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, what's up." Wilbur set down the guitar, and he started to half-glare at Tommy. "How long will it take?"

"Just a few minutes. I- um, did I really hit my head that hard yesterday? Eret said I fell and get out of class early, but there's... there's something more there. I just know that isn't exactly what happened. Did... did someone push me, or something? Or was there a big event I missed? Something's off." There was a gap in his memory spanning the previous day, but Tommy couldn't put his finger on it. Something.... something clawed at the back of his memory. Everyone had acted normal at school, so they were either in on it or didn't know.

Wilbur sighed. "Seriously?"

Tommy nodded, wringing his hands. "Yeah. I'm sorry to bug you, but something is just really off and-"

Wilbur mumbled something, and Tommy was just barely able to catch it. "You don't know the half of it." He stood, then, pretending nothing was off, and pushed past Tommy. "Drop it. Yesterday was perfectly normal, you're just crazy."

The words echoed in Tommy's mind for a second. Just crazy? Crazy. That felt like- that felt like it had something to do with the day before. "Wait, Wil- Wilbur, are you completely sure nothing is wrong?" He refrained from grabbing Wilbur's sleeve, staring hard at the ground.

"Nothing is wrong. Now go hide in your room or something." With that, Wilbur turned and walked away.

Tommy sighed, tension releasing as Wilbur went down the stairs. There was something afoot, but he just didn't know what. Something big, for sure. Wilbur disliked him, that much was obvious, but it was far deeper than that. Likely everyone knew at least something about what happened, Tommy got that impression from yesterday's car ride with Eret.

He didn't actually want to find out.

And Wilbur did say he should just leave, didn't he?

Tommy went back to his room. The bag was still fully packed. He could run..... later. They would be expecting it if he ran now. Tommy frowned. He felt full of pent up energy, like there was electricity crackling at his fingertips.

"Okay," He said to an empty room. "Let's plan."

\---

"So, mind telling me why you're here?" Halo adjusted his notepad, flipping through the older pages. "Is it because of Wilbur's anger issues again?"

"Not this time." Phil laughed breathlessly. No matter how many times he reminded himself Halo was both a friend and a therapist, it never made their visits any less uncomfortable. "This time- I.... I'm just worried about Tommy."

"Oh yeah, tell me about him. How has he been adjusting?"

"Terribly." Phil leaned back. "He hides in his room, barely talks to any of us. He hasn't tried getting along with anyone, not even Tubbo. He keeps aggravating Wil, and Techno couldn't be more indifferent if he tried. And now he'll trust us even less because I left the stupid classroom door open and he saw Minx working on control and Sam had to wipe his memory."

Halo raised his eyebrows, jotting something down without looking. "So he's not like Wilbur and Techno were."

"No, he's different. They trusted me right away, tried a little too hard to be a part of the household. It might be something to do with their ages, Tommy's jumped a ton of homes and lived on his own for a few years, he's just trying to protect himself. Sam's told me some of what has happened to him in the past, and I know I'm not anything like those excuses of parents, but I don't know what to do to help him."

"Have you tried talking to him, seeing if he'll open up? It seems like an obvious answer, I know, but have you? You need to sit down with him when he's calm and awake so you can talk over how things work in your house, tell him you'll keep him safe."

"He must've had that same talk a billion times before." Phil sighed.

"Do you know if he has?"

"Well- no." Phil fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "It's been so long since I've had a truly fragile kid in the house. And even then, Wil and Techno at least talked to me on their first day. I'm scared I'm gonna muck it up."

"Phil, from me to you, you're not going to mess this up. You're an awesome parent, and I know you can do this. If you want, you can keep coming back and I'll help you out more, okay?"

Phil took a deep breath, partially reassured. "Okay."

***

I apologize for my... episode.

I find myself wondering more and more.

About what, I can never remember. I only know I've been thinking more often.

Do you see it?

The voice?

It's there more often now. I thought I had it under control.

It's been so long since I've felt happy... you all make me happy. Maybe. I don't remember what happiness feels like, but this seems about right.

I remember more now.

It almost hurts.

Til next.

-Aaina, The Narrator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> side note i'm perfectly fine with y'all giving the narrator different names
> 
> i couldn't help but bring them back for this chapter


	18. Chapter 18

Fundy and Niki came back from their small "job" with interesting news. They were supposed to beg for food, however embarrassing, because they were arguably the youngest-looking, and Fundy could fake cry like nobody's business. It just turned out that their hunt had gone suspiciously well. They rounded the corner, finding their friends silently sitting on the concrete.

"Guys," Niki greeted them with a wide grin. "Great news."

Fundy looked like he might explode with excitement, hands flapping as he hopped from foot to foot. "Great, great news."

"Just tell us." Wilbur's eyes were heavy, dark eye bags that hadn't been visible in the darkness standing out starkly against his pale skin. "I'm too tired to guess."

Niki glanced around the group. They all looked similar, beat down and gray-faced. She was suddenly reminded of how little they'd been able to eat, how difficult it was to ration out what they found and keep their wits about them. She frowned. "We found a place to sleep and get food from."

Immediately Techno and Eret's heads flew up. Sam's mouth fell open. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!" Fundy did a little dance. "There's a grocery store like a mile away that's gonna take us in if two of us work in the back for part of the day. It was pure luck we ran into the manager outside, but oh man!" He jumped up and down. "Our luck is turning!"

"Someone's happy." Wilbur's words were mocking, but he was grinning just as wide when he stood. "So when can we go?"

"Right now, it's back this way." Niki gestured for them to follow. "Who should work? Should we switch off, or something? If so, who's first?"

Sam shrugged. "I can do it, I don't mind if we can't switch off. Everyone can make themselves useful during the day whether or not they're actually doing the work in the store. Do you know what the jobs are?"

"Stacking boxes, I think. The guy said it was sort of a formality, so it didn't look like he was just allowing kids off the street to sleep in the store for no reason. Said we're gonna have to pretend to be his sister's kids." Niki had a little bounce in her step as she walked.

The store wasn't a long walk away by any means, just a few blocks. They stepped inside, nervously whispering among themselves, and were immediately waved over by one of the employees. He herded them into the back, glancing over his shoulder.

"Nobody's supposed to know you're here," He whispered, "We're technically not allowed to have kids in here."

Niki glanced to Eret, wondering if he was checking to see if the man was being genuine... without making eye contact, Eret nodded once and followed the man down the hallway. Breathing a minuscule sigh of relief, Niki jogged to catch up with the rest of the group.

"So, which of you are going to help out? Jack is waiting for whoever you chose, and I'm taking the rest of you and showing you where to hide in the back. Sorry it's such a mess-" He kicked an empty box out of the way. "I swear we cleaned yesterday."

"Me and..." Sam scanned the group. "Did anyone else...?"

"I'll do it." Techno raised one hand, half shrugging. "Might as well help out, right?"

"Right. You two, Jack's waiting down that hallway and to the left. First door after the turn, you can't miss it." He pushed Sam and Techno in the general direction of a hallway and immediately turned. "The rest of you, we need to move this way."

He walked them into a warehouse-type area. "There's an office here that whoever's on night watch sits in. Usually it's just me or Jack in there, so you kids can stay in it. There's a little space heater and a pull out couch, but I'll bring more blankets and pillows." He pointed to the little room. "It's unlocked, and it's kind of swamped today, so I need to go back out front. If you need anything, go looking for me or Jack out front, nobody else. Lock the door once you're inside." He turned to start walking in the direction they'd come from. "Sorry there's so much information at once, I just don't have the time to-" He checked his radio. "Oh, shoot, okay, I'll check on you kids later!"

Niki took a deep breath, glancing to her friends. They looked about as shaken and confused as she felt.

"So he was... something." Fundy frowned in the direction the man had left in. "Eret, was he...?"

"Telling the truth? I think so." Eret furrowed his brow. "From what I could make out he's mostly stressed, but it seems like he cares about how we're doing. Which is nice. I think. There's not really a need to police your thoughts around a bunch of kids, right?"

"Right." Wilbur pushed open the door. "So, should we get settled?"

***

I apologize for worrying you so.

I'd like to bring back an old discussion, if you don't mind. What do you think of the universe? Do you think we have the power to see it as it truly is, to shape it? Some believe we have the power to move mountains, literally or figuratively.

There's a poem I like. It reminds me of someone I used to know. I cannot remember the words, but I have a fuzzy memory of someone singing them as if they were a lullaby... something about soft skies and honey and tree bark and the smell of a campfire.

Ah, campfires. I miss the outdoors. Should I go sometime?

Yours,

Aaina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao sorry if you've been keeping up with this idk why i forgot to post this one


	19. Chapter 19

Tommy went through his day silently. On the outside, he was sitting in class, silent and calm, while on the inside he was planning an escape route. He had everything packed and in his bag already, he just needed to wait for third period. Dream, Sapnap, and George were in his second period, surely still watching him, first period didn't even cross his mind as an option, and he had to check in with Phil after lunch every day. He had more time leaving at the beginning of third period.

So he sat and waited. Perfectly still, plotting which directions to go. He'd been making a mental map, lucky he'd always been good with directions, and knew a basic idea of which ways to turn. It would be easier to tell in a car, but he had never learned how to drive and wasn't quite ready to die.

Second period was easily the hardest out of the day. The "Dream Team," as Phil jokingly referred to them as, stayed just as rowdy and excitable as always. Tommy found himself sitting and forcing himself to stare forward, trying his hardest to ignore the quiet humming and joking coming from the three on his left. 

"Hey, psst, Tommy," Sapnap poked him with a pencil. "What's the answer to number nine?"

Tommy sighed, then glanced down at his paper. "Wait, you're only on nine? What the fuck?" He was on thirty, almost finished with the worksheet. "We've been doing silent work for almost an hour!" He angrily hissed.

"Well these two aren't silent. Do you have the answer or not?" Sapnap shoved away George when he tried to bat at his shoulder.

Tommy groaned internally, just wanting to end the conversation. "Fifty-three. Now shut up and go back to work."

"Yeah, you're Techno's brother all right," Dream muttered, keeping his head angled down. George choked on his water, and Tommy smacked Dream in the back of the head. He got a warning glare from the teacher.

"Dude, fuck off, seriously."

"Hey, don't smack h-"

"-sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes-"

Tommy blinked hard. Was he hearing things? Dream looked at him quizzically, and Tommy furrowed his brow. "Were you... singing?"

"No?" Dream looked at Tommy like he was crazy, before his eyes widened. "Sap, we need to talk to Phil. Right. Now."

"Can I go to the bathroom, sir?" Sapnap raised his hand, getting a nod from the teacher. He glanced curiously at Tommy, before remembering he was probably supposed to cover for his friend. "Dream's got a lot of homework due. He slacks off."

"Not that much!" Dream hissed angrily. Tommy didn't buy a second of it. He stood as well, pushing back his chair and grabbing his bag.

"You lot are fucking weird. Something is going on and I don't like it one bit." He shoved out the door, ignoring the teacher's annoyed call after him. He was leaving and he was doing it immediately. Fuck, he was hotheaded, but nobody had taught him not to be. Tommy bit back a scream. Why was he suddenly so angry at his past parents? Fuck, fuck, fuck. 

He tore past Phil's classroom. He needed to get out, leave, run, anything.

\---

Eret was trying to focus in on Phil's mind after he'd put up a blockade, attempting to scale the mental wall. Phil had been insisting it was important for her to learn in case someone knew of their powers. Everyone was undergoing similar training, though only during second and third period.

He felt like he was almost there, pushing through the last little-

𝘙𝘜𝘕. 𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘝𝘌. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳.

Eret shot up, scraping his chair hard on the floor. The wave of internal conflict had been there and gone in a flash, and it hadn't been Phil. It was-- Eret tried to put a finger on the voice. Oh, fuck. Tommy.

"Tommy's trying to run." Eret ran for the door, Phil right on their heels. They tore the door open and looked up and down the hall. Tommy had been moving fast, and he was already around the corner. 

"Get Sapnap." Phil's voice was tense. "He can see where Tommy went."

Eret nodded, turning and running in the direction of Sapnap's- and Tommy's, technically- classroom. He turned the corner just in time to avoid hitting him. "Sapnap, you gotta come help us, Tommy's-"

"Running. I know. Dream just figured something out too but a teacher started yelling. I don't know--" Sapnap's eyes were wild.

Eret internally groaned. Dream blinked out whenever someone yelled at him, involuntarily hopping to the nearest reality, and continuing to do so until he stopped at one he deemed as safe. Phil had been working with him on it, but apparently not enough. "In front of the teacher?"

"Thank god, no, we were already out the door. But he knew something. Before Tommy ran. Where did he- do you want me to-?"

"Yes." Eret grabbed Sapnap's hand and ran for the classroom. "If he gets out this will be a whole new level of fucked up."

\---

Tommy leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. He hadn't considered getting lost... inside the school. He was in the wrong place, for sure-

Footsteps.

Coming up around the corner. Tommy held his breath, crossing his fingers and praying whoever it was wasn't looking for him.

"Tommy? Tommy, we're not mad, we just wanna talk." Ranboo sounded cautious. "Are you there?"

Tommy held his hands over his mouth. Fuck, it all felt so familiar, he could practically smell the stupid fucking hardwood polish the fosters had used back then, the smell making his head floaty and light.

Fuck, fuck, fuck-

Just as he saw Ranboo's foot cross the corner, just when he thought he was done for, Tommy disappeared.

***

Hello!

I am back once again.

Many of you said I should go outside, so I took your advice. Did you know it's raining? It makes everything so much more vivid and earthy. I missed the smell of rain, and I didn't even know. However, I can't help but feel something is missing. Like there's supposed to be someone with me. I believe they left me.

I wonder if you would like me still if I learned who I am and told you of myself. I think I'm not a good person. I don't remember.

Thinking too hard about it brings the voice back up, though, and I want to keep writing as normally as I can, so I will leave you now. But maybe you all should join me outside for a moment. Make some tea and open a window, if you must. It's much nicer of a feeling than I thought it would be.

Aaina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayo?? how we feelin??? about tommy's power????


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you all can have some fluff, thank me later :)

Wilbur woke up crying. All he could remember from his dream were hands, hands pushing and shoving and pulling and tearing at his clothes and skin and hair, pressing down on him til he couldn't breathe. He jumped when he awoke, tears rolling down his cheeks, hands shaking hard, and tried to calm himself. He looked around, eyes adjusting to the dark room. He could make out several sleeping forms. One, two, three, four, five asleep- no, four asleep. 

Niki reached over blindly, fumbling for Wilbur in the dark. Her hand landed awkwardly on his head. She dragged the rest of her body over and wrapped her arms around him. Wilbur reciprocated the action, hanging on for dear life. He hated how his hands shook, but if there was anyone he trusted to help him it was Niki. Wilbur held onto her like an anchor, feeling a tide of emotions crash down on his head, not wanting to be swept away.

His breaths came shaky and probably too fast, heart beating out of his chest. Niki didn't move, just sitting there with him quietly. She hummed softly, a tune he barely recognized, but vaguely knew. She'd hummed it before, and he'd heard the lyrics on the radio. It was a beautiful song, for sure, singing of lonely nights and skies black as the depths of the ocean, of sleepless nights waiting for a lover to return and the smell of tea with honey, woodsmoke and husky lullabies. Wilbur hummed along, trying to match her breaths.

Soon enough he wasn't shaking anymore, and his quiet sobs had turned to sad little hiccups. Niki squeezed Wilbur once more and leaned back, trying to get a good look at him through the inky black of night. He ruffled her hair, taking a deep breath.

"You alright?" Niki whispered.

Wilbur sniffled, wiping his tears away with one grimy sweater sleeve. "Yeah, I think so."

"Do you want me to see if there's cocoa anywhere?" She fumbled for the door handle, and Wilbur stood to help. He unlocked the door and hissed when he was greeted with the night air. He'd almost forgotten they were in a warehouse-type space, all cold stone walls and smooth concrete floors, no matter what angle he looked at it from. At least they were warm inside the night watch room, Wilbur sighed. He shut the door after them, but someone pushed it open right after.

Fundy blinked, eyes bleary. "What are you two doing?"

Wilbur glanced to Niki. What could he say? Did he tell the truth or lie? It was too late to think of any pros and cons. He fumbled for a moment before deciding on a half truth. "We're gonna go get hot chocolate. D'you wanna come with us?"

Fundy nodded with a silly little grin, more awake as he shut the door and padded down the cold hall, down to the break room they'd seen on the way. "Our luck is turning," He repeated Wilbur's words from earlier. "Our luck is turning."

***

Fundy was the only one who knew how to work the kettle, apparently. He put in enough water for three cups of hot cocoa and set it to boil, taking a seat on the soft old cushions. "Kinda weird that we ended up here, of all places."

"I know." Niki leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. "Are we even really allowed to be in here? The break room and the store."

"Probably not." Fundy shrugged. "But like Eret said, they're telling the truth. And hey, we're friends of the employees, so I think we should get to enjoy some crappy hot cocoa at..." He looked at a clock and winced. "Two in the morning."

"Jeez," Wilbur whistled through his teeth. "Sorry for waking you up, Niki."

"It's fine, I'd prefer if you did." She gave Wilbur a soft smile, hopping up when the kettle chimed that it was done. "Don't worry, Fundy, I know how to handle this bit." She carefully poured the hot drinks, finding a paper cup of plastic spoons and handing one to each of them.

Fundy sipped his cautiously but ended up burning his lip, cursing quietly. Wilbur snorted, trying not to laugh too loud, before falling victim to the same fate. Now Niki was the one to laugh, blowing carefully on her spoonful of cocoa and still burning her tongue on it. They dissolved into giggles.

"Next time, we let Wil deal with the kettle."

"Hear hear," Fundy said with a little flourish of his spoon.

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, smiling quietly down at their drinks, lost in thought. Wilbur stirred his drink absently, not having much to think about. He hummed the song again, and without thinking Niki joined in. He grinned a little wider, burning his lip on the cocoa and not caring, before taking a full sip and spluttering all over the place. Niki looked up, but kept humming through Fundy's giggles.

The atmosphere stayed warm and comfortable like that for a bit longer before Fundy broke the silence. "So... why were you two both awake? Did one of you have a nightmare?" He glanced between them, the question he didn't ask hanging above their heads.

Wilbur set down his drink, pushing back the giggles rising in his throat. "No, I- well, yes, but I know what you're thinking. I had a nightmare, Niki suggested we make hot cocoa. She's my friend, you creep."

Niki nodded. "Hot cocoa solves problems."

"Alright, alright." Fundy leaned back, satisfied, before sitting back up. "Sorry to be asking so many questions tonight, but I can't help but be curious. Before, y'know, before we met, what were your lives like? If you don't mind."

"I don't mind." Wilbur stirred his drink, trying to decide where to start. "So, before I knew you..."

***

Hi!

I am back, reader. I missed you all. I am considering going to look for that friend I mentioned, the one who may be able to help me recover some of my memories? They must know more about me than I do as of now. They might be able to explain some things.

Which means, reader, I may be absent or less talkative in the coming days. If I was ever particularly talkative to begin with.

So I'll bring up a new discussion, one we haven't touched on yet. Do you believe in magic? Not the kind that makes people fly, or the kind that can cast grand, colorful spells, but the everyday kind. Sigils stirred into cups of tree, quiet spells whispered over freshly baked bread, kissing all your plants so they may grow faster. The domestic, soft kind of magic.

Or is magic for you found in others? In the curls of your lover, in the spark in your younger sibling's eyes, in the passion of an activist fighting for the hope of a better life? It can be small, eggs and bacon shaped into a smiley face by a friend or parent after a bad day, a slightly longer hug than usual after someone sees the bags under your eyes, or it can be grand: large gestures of love and support, murals of smiling faces and glowing happiness.

Or maybe magic for you is in objects. The dance of a fire, for example, or the shine in a wet rock you find on the beach. In a vinyl record that plays just a little better than the version you play from your phone. In the crashing of waves on the shore. In a childhood toy, a favorite dress, a beautiful scarf.

Large or small, beautiful or messy, do you believe in magic?

You may be able to tell I've been better recently, reader. You all make me happier than I could have dreamed.

Genuinely, thank you.

Aaina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn this chapter really said aesthetic huh


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aaa sorry for the wait guys i rlly wanted to write this but my motivation just completely tanked lmao

"Tommy?" Ranboo called out, wandering the halls. "Goodness, I could've sworn he was around here."

"Need some help?" Sapnap shouted down the hall. "Class is out in a few minutes and Phil's making me wander around with you all, see if my power can be of any use." His steps got slower as he grew closer, brow furrowing. "Whoa."

"Whoa what?" Ranboo shuffled, nervous. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong, it's just... this area." He knelt, running his hands along the carpeted hallway. "I've told you before how my power feels, right?"

"I don't even know what it is," Ranboo laughed awkwardly. "Cons of being a transfer student, I suppose."

"Oh." Sapnap seemed concentrated on the ground, but leaned back on his heels and looked up at Ranboo instead of focusing more. "So, you know me 'n Dream and George all deal with reality, like Dream can jump realities, yada yada yada. I can kind of read the fabric, like it's got a rewind button when I want it to. Some fabrics are stretched all thin because nobody's been around them, but sometimes, especially when large amounts of power is distributed, it feels all bunchy and tense."

"Does it feel like that now?" Ranboo knelt as well, staring hard at the ground as if there was going to be some physical marking.

"Yeah. This feels like the first time Dream came back from a reality jump, like there was so much power released that it screwed with the fabric of reality. You might want to get Phil before I read this, it could end up being really fucked."

"O-of course!" Ranboo hopped up and sprinted down the hall, mind racing. Tommy had used his power? That would mean they would finally know what it was! He grinned, though his stomach twisted with nerves the more he thought about it, and focused on finding Phil.

A lucky part of his teleportation abilities was definitely knowing where things were more than regular people. If he wanted to teleport to Phil, he'd have to know where Phil was. When he stuck around a person enough, he could feel, to an extent, where someone was, like a gut feeling or a game of hot or cold. He turned down the hallway, skidding to a stop just in time.

"Phil, Wilbur, Karl- Sapnap found something."

Phil nodded, and Ranboo couldn't help but feel bad for him. He looked so stressed already, hands shaking as he followed Ranboo down the hall. Wilbur was whispering back and forth to him quietly, and Ranboo could just barely make out the words.

"-feel like it's my fault he ran off, I-"

"...ungrateful, you did nothing wrong dad, he was just..."

"-still feels like-"

"We're here," Ranboo said. He pointed to Sapnap, who was sitting on the floor with his brow furrowed. "Um, Sapnap, wanna... rewind? Is that how you say it? Or just see what Tommy did? Sorry, I talk when I'm nervous, I'll shut up."

Sapnap waved a hand as if to dismiss him. "It's alright, we're all nervous. Let me reach out and..." He closed his eyes and started to narrate. "Tommy ran around this corner, and I can just barely see you, Ranboo, coming down the hall. He hid there, kinda pressed against this water fountain. I can't hear what he said, but he was whispering to himself, or maybe mouthing something."

"Okay?" Phil leaned forward slightly.

"Ranboo got closer, and Tommy started getting really panicky, all shaky and breathing hard, he was probably gonna have a panic attack, then Ranboo's getting closer, he's almost around the corner, and-" Sapnap suddenly cut himself off with a quick gasp.

"What? What did you see?" Ranboo stepped forward, but didn't go any further when Sapnap turned around, looking shell-shocked.

"Tommy can teleport," He whispered.

***

It's been some time, readers.

Jax, I think you may be at least partially correct in your stance on my name. It's not entirely... me. As I learn more of myself, I learn it's not so easy to define myself with such a name. I am not magic, nor can I see magic. As far as I know. What is normal for me could be entirely different from what is normal for you, and neither of us may ever know which is the true normal.

Can I trust anything, you ask? I should probably learn to. I find myself trusting very little. For instance, I had to take a taxi today, trying to find that friend I mentioned. I was on edge the whole time, but at least I didn't climb out and start running like I wanted to. Baby steps are still steps, yes?

Many of you don't believe in magic. I must ask why? It seems so pessimistic to not think there's everyday magic.

I apologize for this being so short. I am writing this on the train to find my friend, the one I spoke of before. I don't know where I'm going, I just know I have to go there. I don't recognize these street names, but this feels right somehow. I'm going in the correct direction, I think.

Yours, Aaina (?)


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> damn guys i can't foreshadow at all lmao moth aster and rheya are gonna figure out the whole plot before chapter 30 at this rate fr

Morning finally roused the city, bringing with it tired eyes and foggy memories. Wilbur vaguely remembered waking up in the middle of the night, the smell of hot cocoa, and the warmth of a group hug.

Slowly, as he woke up, he recalled almost all of it. The nightmare, waking up, the hot cocoa, and... the talk. They'd gone on for almost two hours, talking about how they all ended up living on the streets. There had been some tears shed and some regrettable memories revisited, but Wilbur was glad they'd done it. He felt closer to Niki and Fundy, grinning when Fundy woke up.

"Mornin'!" He chirped.

"Someone's a morning person," Eret grumbled. He rolled over, tucking the blanket over his shoulder.

"Morning, Wil." Niki yawned, sitting up. "Where's Sam and Techno?"

"I think they already left," Wilbur said with a shrug. "Which means we've gotta figure out what to do alone for the next.... however long." He glanced around the small room. There was nothing to do, really. A few dusty novels that looked like they belonged in a fifty year old man's reject pile and a chess board, like any of them knew how to play chess.

"We could... play a game?" Fundy seemed to come to the same conclusion. "Like duck duck goose?"

"Not in the mood." Niki frowned. "Are we allowed to leave this room, or are we stuck here?"

"I think we can leave. You guys didn't even try to be quiet." Eret sat up with a frown. "I'm properly awake now, assholes."

Fundy stuck his tongue out and Wilbur snickered. "If you don't want to play a game, could we go for a walk?"

Fundy's eyes lit up, and Wilbur took it as a yes. He hopped up and opened the door, checking for anyone around. The large warehouse was empty, so he pulled open the door and beckoned for his friends. They hopped up and followed, beaming.

For the first time in forever, Wilbur realized, they were finally safe.

***

I can hardly believe I'm the one telling you all to be less pessimistic. Maybe it's the fresh air. Magic is everywhere, even though it's not as fantastical as what's in this story. Of course it's a system of belief, just like religion. I wish I knew more on the subject, but alas. Someone explained it to me once, a long time ago, but we all know how I am with memories.

I don't know if Aaina is the right name for me. I don't know what is, but Aaina doesn't sit right. Someday I'll figure it out. Until then, I wouldn't mind if you called me the Narrator or tried out different names! Anything masculine would be nice, I think.

Should I start a travel log? I don't want to forget what I've seen.

Here is day one, at least. Most of these notes were hastily scribbled on my arms or napkins, since I was trying to find a train or subway station for almost a full day. I eventually located one, but I ended up staying in the city for a night instead of taking it. That's a job for the morning.

I walked past a woman playing a guitar on the street corner. I didn't have anything to give her, but I stood and clapped when she was done. Her voice was lovely, running up and down a scale as easily as water runs off an umbrella. Water was a good description of her voice as well, bubble and pure. She was wonderful, and I'm regretting having to move on so quickly.

Did you know there are bakeries all over? The one I visited had the most delicious croissants. I haven't had something so sweet in forever. Should I take up baking once I regain my memories and go home? 

I found myself thinking of this story more often than I'd like to admit. Which parts go where, I often questioned. I think I have the events in order, mostly, but all the jumping back and forth confuses me. Forgive me if I make a mistake.

The voice is almost entirely gone now, just a whisper at the back of my mind. Being outside makes it go away, reader.

There was a park with a pond in it. Ducks were sitting in the water, getting free bread crusts and quacking happily. I like the sound ducks make, they sound so cheerful and bright. 

I saw a flower shop today. Goodness, have you ever been inside one? I hadn't until now. It was so colorful and smelled so pretty, I wish I could have stayed longer.

Most of my day was spent running from place to place. Maybe I'll explore the city more tomorrow.

Until then, dear readers.

Yours, The Narrator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> istfg i'm never planning fluff again. sucks to write. i'm gonna start stabbing shit.
> 
> also thanks lark for sending the whole discord spoilers, very poggers


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i told yall i didn't wanna write fluff and i fucking meant it :D
> 
> also thanks to lark for beta-ing this chapter and doing literally all the heavy lifting on the server!

Tommy froze, mouth dropping open. One second he was sure he'd been caught, the next he was standing in the middle of a huge forest. He spun in a full circle, looking in disbelief at the trees surrounding him on all sides. There was no way, it was impossible, shit like this doesn't just happen- he tried to reason. His hands began to tremble at the sound of a bird’s warble, though reality had far from sunk in.

"Hello? Ranboo? Phil?" Tommy called out, hands flapping of their own accord. "Hello?"

There was no answer besides the echoing of his voice against the trees. 'Isn't this what you wanted?’, a tiny voice whispered at the back of his mind. Tommy blanched. Not this, that had never been the goal. Sure, in the heat of the moment, he had wished deeply for something- anything, really - to happen, but not this. He meant for Ranboo to turn around, to leave, but in the heat of the moment his brain had screamed ‘Away, he needed to run away,’ and he'd went away.

Surely he wasn't stuck there, though. Tommy laughed in disbelief, running a shaking hand through his hair. He was stuck, wasn't he? Stuck alone in the forest, with nobody in sight. God knows how long it might take for them to find him...

Wait. Find him? Tommy froze as a horrifying thought made itself clear. What if they didn't look? What if they didn't want him? Wilbur certainly didn't, and Phil... Tommy remembered all the laughter and joyful conversation he'd heard filter from downstairs, and winced. Phil had two sons already, and they fit into their own little roles in a perfect family unit. Wilbur was smart and funny, a musical genius, while Techno was strong in his opinions, probably able to head the debate team if he ever wanted to.

And Tommy? He was the new kid. "Wilbur's new foster brother," as he'd heard someone whisper as he passed by. He was certainly more trouble than he was worth, that much was abundantly clear. Foster parent after foster parent had tried so fucking hard to love him, but he was just too unlovable. Rowdy, bothersome, clumsy.Tommy dropped their nice dishes and ruined his new clothes, tripped over rocks and sprained his ankles, fell down the stairs and bruised his arms. They all gave him back. Would Phil even bother formalizing it by finding Tommy to return him? He might just not search at all, deciding that it was more convenient for him to have mysteriously gone missing.

In the end, of course Tommy had been expecting it.

To be lost, alone and freezing cold? He'd just been waiting for the day. Phil would return him, give some half-assed explanation about how Tommy just 'didn't click' with their family, and Tommy would be back to square one. He'd just never expected to be stranded like this.

Looking around, Tommy started to search for a path. All forests must have paths, right? There was no way this one didn't. He blocked out the obvious, that it was likely he would starve before finding his way out or being found, and pushed forward into the trees.

***

Almost two hours passed, and the sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky. Tommy cursed, realizing he was going to have to figure out a way to stay safe. He brought a warm jacket and enough clothing to not freeze to death in the wintery night, but he'd never actually slept in a forest before. Under overpasses, yes. In alleys, yes. Leaned against a dumpster, yes. On playgrounds, yes.

But, never in such a wild, unkempt place. There were no paths anywhere to be found, and his phone had no signal. It was pretty shit anyway, busted and several years old. Still, he'd busted his ass to pay for the damn thing and he intended to use it as long as possible. The only upside to it was the little amounts of freedom, as nobody knew he owned one. Especially not Phil. But it didn't exactly come in handy when he had no reception.

He tried calling 911, multiple times, but the app kept crashing and the calls wouldn't go through. Tommy turned off his phone entirely when he realized he was on twenty percent without a charger.

"Fuck," He whispered, sitting down on a large root to rest. "This fucking sucks."

Verbally taking stock of his situation felt like it could be a good idea, so Tommy took a deep breath. "I got scared. I wished to be saved from Ranboo, and ended up here. Now I need to find a path and get to safety. Phil probably isn't coming, and nobody knows where I am, so I need to focus focus focus-- focus." He took another deep breath, trying to slow his heart rate. "We're fine. It's fine, we're good. Nothing to be scared of, Tommy, just a.... possibility of death."

He clammed up at that. Tommy could very well die of starvation or be devoured by the jaws of whatever animals that roamed the woods. What kind of trees was he surrounded by? What did aspen trees look like again? The trunks looked almost reddish-orangish in the fading light but there was no true way to tell.

There was, of course, the possibility that he was simply insane. Tommy mulled over the idea for a second and decided that he preferred just being lost. The thought made him laugh. He never thought he'd be able to say that being lost with no signal in a forest while nighttime rapidly approached while knowing that nobody would find him was the desirable option. But there he was, preferring it.

"This is fucked up," He said to nobody in particular. The silence made him want to scream. He fucking hated silence. Slowly, slowly, he started humming the song Wilbur had been playing so often. Few words filtered through the wall, but when he focused he could hear more of them. Tommy sighed, losing himself in the half-familiar tune.

What words he didn't know were filled in with ones he made up. A song about honey-smoke and dancing campfires and skies speckled with a billion stars and the sound of laughter spilled from his lips, spinning a tale of the life Tommy wished he had.

But it ended all too soon, leaving behind... nothing. Tommy felt empty as he looked around. He wasn't sitting around a fire with a family that loved him, he was sitting alone in a now entirely black forest, rocking back and forth and daydreaming when he should be focusing on not dying of hypothermia.

Fuck. That was morbid.

Tommy choked out a frantic laugh, pushing himself into a nook between two tree roots to feel at least a little bit safe. His backpack served as a partial pillow, keeping his back from rubbing against the rough bark. He would sleep it off. The best he could do was pretend everything would be fine by morning light, after all.

***

The searches were proving useless. Tommy had up and vanished- how were they even supposed to find him? Ranboo's advice, if Tommy had in fact teleported, was simply to wait. He could beg for a phone from someone eventually. But Sam could see in the way his eyes darted nervously that there was a small chance of that happening. Did he know... any of their numbers? And, of course, there was the question of if he planned to even come back. The teleportation could have aided in his escape, after all.

Sam sighed, resting his head on the table. Trying to figure it all out was giving him a headache. Phil had been calling around all day, trying to see if anyone had heard Tommy say something suspicious at school. Sam explained the powers incident but Phil didn't seem to think that was the problem, rephrasing to ask if Sam knew anything else.

It was a fucking mess, honestly. Sam frowned into the grain of the tabletop when he heard Tubbo pad into the room, before sitting up. "You doing alright? Sorry if I was being a bit snappy earlier, all this just has me on my toes."

"It's okay." Tubbo shrugged. "Karl says Tommy's probably coming back."

"He would know." Sam smiled reassuringly. "Wanna sit with me while I go back and forth with Phil?"

"Okay." Tubbo took a seat next to Sam on one of the chairs. "Is Phil okay? I know he was worried about Tommy at school. I wish I had more to tell him, I really do, but Tommy was acting pretty normal all day. He doesn't usually talk to me all that much, but-"

"Shh, hold on a minute. I've got a headache, I'm trying to focus."

"Oh. Okay." Tubbo started humming quietly, looking around the room. Sam frowned, trying to block out the sound. He didn't want to directly tell his little brother twice in less than a minute to shut up, did he?

But Tubbo kept humming. Sam sighed, a little too loud, but he still didn't get the message. He could feel his face grow hot with irritation. "I'm gonna go cool off, I'll be right back."

Sam stood to go for the door, but out of the blue Tubbo grabbed his hand. "Wait, S-"

And Sam went to hit him. Without thinking, without meaning to in the least, Sam's hand moved as if to slap his brother. And, to his horror, Tubbo withdrew his hand and 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥. Sam had made a promise to himself, Phil, to Tubbo, to fucking everyone that he would never, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 give his brother a reason to be scared of him.

And he'd broken the promise. With nothing but a headache and some minor annoyances, Sam had almost hit Tubbo. He immediately put his hands up in an apologetic way, stepping closer to pull him into a hug. "Oh my god, I'm so so-"

"Don't." Tubbo's fists were clenched around his shirt.

"Why? I'm so, so, sorry and I promise it was an accident." Sam moved closer, reaching out- and Tubbo flung himself backwards, hitting the floor hard and scrambling back, eyes wild. "Wait! I'm sorry! Fuck."

Sam didn't step forward again, instead moving back. From there he reached out with his power, pushing into his brother's head. What was he so scared of, Sam whispered to his power, why did Tubbo react like he did?

His answer was immediate. The memories were vivid, as if they'd been burning into Tubbo's mind. Cigarette burns, adults screaming from a room over- Sam snapped away before he saw anything else. Tubbo must have recognized how his face changed, because his expression twisted into one of upset and sadness. "Sam, you promised. You promised my memories were my own."

"I-" Fuck, had he? Sam tried to recall. Despite being able to read people's memories like a book, his own were scattered and hard to file away. He finally remembered- albeit vaguely- Tubbo's bright smile when Sam promised he'd never look into his memory without permission. "Shit. I'm so sorry."

"You- Sam, I want to leave."

"...alright." Sam slumped a little, sigh leaving his lungs in a quiet whoosh. "Do you want Puffy to come pick you up? You can stay with her for a bit, if you want."

Tubbo sniffled, curling in on himself. "Yeah."

Sam pulled out his phone, stepping away. If Puffy was who he wanted, Puffy was who he would get. "Okay."

***

Puffy was silent on the car ride to her house, and Tubbo just sat in the backseat and picked at his nails. She had insisted he sit in the back, which was stupid considering all that was there was her handbag, but... understandable. He'd been told time and time again that Puffy got affected by any emotion around her, it only made sense to want him as far away as possible.

Tubbo let out a big breath. What had Sam been trying to do? What was the goal? All he knew was that Sam didn't want to hurt him. It had been a mistake, that much was obvious from the look of horror that washed over Sam's face the second he realized what he had done. Tubbo frowned and looked out the window.

"We're here," Puffy said curtly. She pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. "Everyone should be upstairs, you can go sit with them if you'd like. You can probably share with someone, or sleep on the couch. I need to take a minute." She stepped out of the car, but Tubbo hopped out after and held onto her sleeve.

"Puffy?" He looked up at her, trying to feel as thankful as possible so she'd know how much he appreciated it. "Thank you."

Her eyes softened and Puffy smiled softly. "Of course, kiddo. Sam wants you to know he's really sorry, and he hopes you know he doesn't mean it. He seems really upset that he scared you." Puffy drew him into a quick hug before ruffling Tubbo's hair and pulling away. "Right now I need a breath of fresh air, though, where nobody is sad or anxious. Okay?"

Tubbo forced a smile. "Okay."

He pushed inside, listening to Puffy drive off again after she unlocked the front door. Tubbo wasn't entirely sure where everything was, since Ranboo preferred to either visit Tubbo's or stick outside. Understandable, Tubbo recognized, as he lived in a complete madhouse.

He spotted Minx first, sitting in the kitchen and having a snack. She waved and pointed up the stairs, assuming he wanted to visit Ranboo. Tubbo didn't correct her, nodding his thanks and moving on.

Which one was Ranboo's room, there wasn't really a way to tell. Connor's door had a joking "do not enter" sign that someone drew a dick on. He knew Eret's door had stickers on it as well- he spied that one down the hall. Right, then, it was a toss up between the four doors left.

Puffy's? Karl's? Ranboo's? Minx's?

He just knocked on the nearest. There was no answer, so he tugged the door open. Fuck privacy, he wanted to talk to his friend. It opened to a dim room with clothes thrown all over the floor. Likely Minx's. Tubbo closed it.

Opting to not disrespect their privacy, Tubbo knocked and waited.

"Come in!" Karl shouted.

"Oh, nevermind! I'm looking for Ranboo!"

Karl said something, but Tubbo didn't bother listening, as Ranboo opened the door and poked out his head. "Tubbo? What're you doing here? No, wait, tell me in a second. Come on in!"

Tubbo smiled awkwardly and followed Ranboo into his room, the latter shutting the door before falling into his desk chair. Tubbo perched on the very edge of Ranboo's bed, suddenly hyper-aware of how he wasn't in his own house.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Ranboo's voice was quiet, calming. Tubbo took a deep breath, eyes threatening to water again.

"I- Sam just.... he accidentally freaked me out is all, so I'm gonna stay here for a few days."

"I'm sorry. Want to talk about it? Or we could just do something fun to distract you."

"Thanks, man. I just need a distraction." Tubbo huffed, crossing his legs.

"Wanna play a game? I can grab my computer and probably steal Eret's, if you want." Ranboo hopped up, pointing to the door. Tubbo nodded enthusiastically, glad Ranboo hadn't pressed the issue.

"Thank you."

***

Travel log day 2:

Most of my day was spent on the train. I never thought anything could be this boring.

That is all. There were a lot of trees but looking out the window made me too sick and I couldn't write anything down, for fear I might throw up.

But, on a good note, Lark gave me a new name! Arius! It feels far more... me. As I've been thinking about it, and looking for my friend, I think I'd like it if you all called me he or they. It's odd to think about how much more I know now. But enough from me.

Until next!

Yours, Arius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> but also i pulled out more characters yes i realize these people probably don't talk to each other,,, shut up this was the family that got the "leftover" kids when i was planning


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> god fuckin- i'm so sorry, been working through writer's block and on way too little sleep
> 
> this chapter took far longer than i ever meant it to AAA

Fundy wasn't looking where he was going. That wasn't a problem, if he fell it was his own damn fault. He was brandishing a stick, hopping backwards over puddles as he led his friends through the little woodsy area they found. It wasn't an awful day, it had been drizzling around lunch but got considerably more pleasant around two. Fundy almost hit Niki with the stick as he slipped in mud yet again.

"You alright?" Eret giggled. He gave a sheepish grin at the glare Fundy shot him, shrugging as if to say 'hey, I tried.' Wilbur shook his head and grinned, turning away. It was lucky they'd stumbled across a path, it was much nicer than wandering through an untamed area. (Though how truly untamed a foresty spot near a city could be was up to debate.)

So he wasn't looking when Fundy fell. There was a break in the trees that had been coming up for some time, and Wilbur just assumed everyone knew, but he hadn't thought about the fact that Fundy was backwards, not looking at the trail ahead.

So he fell directly into someone's chicken coop. The wire fencing snagged on his clothes and Fundy cried out in pain as his left arm was cut. He scrambled to his feet, and Wilbur's eyes flashed to the house. Fuck, there was a house. They'd been walking into someone's backyard. Maybe they'd technically been in the backyard for some time. He scanned for signs of life behind the closed curtains. Hopefully nobody was home, but-

His thought was cut short when the sliding door was pulled open. The kid looked roughly their age, though slightly shorter than Fundy, the smallest of the group. He didn't talk at all, just staring at them, until...

"Hey dad, there's kids in the backyard," He shouted into the house. Wilbur yelped, turning and running in the opposite direction, but managed to trip over a log and take Niki down with him when he grabbed at her shirt to try and stay upright. By the time he was back on his feet, a man was standing in the doorway as well. He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes.

"What's going on out here? Did you all just move to the neighborhood?"

"Er, no." Eret rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "We were just out on a walk. Our house is...." He paused, probably trying to think of a street name or address, before giving up. "Pretty far."

"Oh. Where are your parents?"

"At work," Niki supplied. "They're lawyers."

"Two lawyers?" The man raised an eyebrow. "You lot look mighty thin for the kids of two lawyers."

"They're not very good lawyers," Wilbur said when nobody else answered. The man barked out an incredulous laugh.

"Okay, sure, sure. Would your parents mind if I gave you some food? I made extra tonight on accident, and my boys aren't hungry enough to eat all of it. I promise it's good, I even used a cookbook." He fondly ruffled his son's hair, who grimaced and shied away, sticking his tongue out before hopping back into the house.

𝘋𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘌𝘳𝘦𝘵? Wilbur focused on making his words clear and strong.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰. 𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴. Eret's voice echoed in Wilbur's head, and he tried not to jump too high. He most certainly did not know Eret could do that. He cast a glance at his friend, making a mental note to talk to him about it later.

"Um... alright." Wilbur pretended to think about it before shrugging. "I'm okay with it."

He watched Niki and Fundy's gazes fall to Eret, who gave a quick nod. "That sounds fine to me. I'm starved. How about you two?"

"Uh, sure." Niki was clearly trying her best not to grin, failing miserably. Wilbur understood, he was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement for a real, home cooked meal as well. They could only pray the guy wasn't awful at it.

"I'm in." Fundy was the first to walk to the door. "Oh, sorry about the chicken coop. It was an accident, honest."

"Oh! Don't worry your little head about it. The chickens are in for the night, so I can patch it by morning and there won't be an issue at all. You can call me Bad, by the way. A fond nickname from my very loving children." Bad grinned at the three kids standing awkwardly by the stairs.

"Oh- okay. I'm Wilbur, and this is Fundy, Niki, and Eret." Wilbur pointed at each of them in turn. "We've got two other brothers but they're back at home, cuz they didn't wanna come with us." He made his voice sound just slightly more childish on purpose. Better to come off as more innocent in such a situation. 

"These are my kids. They can introduce themselves while I'm getting the soup, right guys?" Bad cast his children an obvious look and turned to the stove, humming as if to say that he didn't plan on talking any further.

"Hi." The boy who had first called them in slid into one of the dinner table seats. "I'm Quackity."

"I'm George." A kid wearing chunky glasses hopped up on the counter with a grin. 

"Sapnap." Sapnap shoved George off the counter and took his spot, starting a small wrestle-war. "And that's Dream!" He pointed to the final kid, who hadn't moved from his place in the corner of the room.

"H-hi." Wilbur looked around. The house seemed so busy, full of life. There was even familial comfort in the way Bad send a scolding look to his sons, who hopped off the counter and took seats at the table instead. Dream finally shuffled over, mumbling an awkward "Hello." To the bunch.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, Eret sarcastically whispered to Wilbur via telepathic communication. He had to think of a better term for that. Mind reading wasn't it anymore, so he was.... mind-talking? Mind-speaking? Whatever.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, He replied in an equally sarcastic tone. Eret chuckled, getting an odd look from Sapnap.

"Alright, give the kids some space." Bad nudged at George's shoulder, and all the kids hopped up from their chairs. "Let these guys have their food, goodness."

"Er- thank you, sir," Niki said politely before taking a sip. Her eyes widened just a little and she took another. "Oh, this is really good."

"I'm glad you like it!" Bad smiled warmly, and Wilbur shrugged before trying some of his own. It was simple chicken-noodle, but just felt so filling and home-like that he couldn't stop a smile from forming.

"This is actually quite nice," He said softly before taking another bite. 

𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘱! 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴! Eret mind-whispered. Wilbur choked on his soup.

"Er, mom used to make it like this, but she changed the recipe. Been a while, I think we all miss it."

"You don't have to pretend with me." Bad shooed off his own children, and they jogged up the stairs, giggling and whispering. "I know what a bunch of strays look like when I see them."

Fundy looked like he was ready to hop up, but Wilbur put a hand on his leg under the table. Not yet. "Oh, you do?"

"My own kids are adopted, you know. Met them pretty much the same way I just met you. I won't turn you in or anything, there's certainly a reason you're out here." He nodded at the look of confusion and nerves on Eret's face. "I can tell that's been a problem for you before."

"So...?" Wilbur relaxed just a little.

"So," Bad hopped up on the counter. "I'm offering you a place to stay. Not forever, if you don't want, I'm just saying you most certainly can bring your brothers here and stay for a while. We've got the space and the food, it's really not a bother."

"I- really?" Wilbur knew his eyes were shiny, and he didn't much care. He glanced to Eret. 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭?

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. Eret grinned.

"Of course." Bad nodded. "Do you want to talk about it amongst yourselves, or do you have a yes or no already?"

"I..." Fundy looked around. Eret nodded firmly, and Fundy looked like he might die of happiness. "I think that's a yes, sir. Thank you."

"My pleasure. Now, finish your soup so we can get you all cleaned up and situated with places to sleep, okay?" Bad's eyes twinkled as he hopped down from the counter and started to clean up.

***

Bad's kids clearly weren't expecting their space to be invaded, but they ended up being gracious nonetheless. They let the empty bunk in George, Dream, and Sapnap's room to be filled by Fundy, and Quackity let Sam share his bed.

After that there wasn't much space in the occupied bedrooms, so Techno and Wilbur ended up in the guest bed, while Niki and Eret got the fold out couch. Luckily, Bad kept saying, they always planned for plenty of guests.

So that's how everyone ended up on the floor in George, Dream, Sapnap, and now Fundy's room. Everyone sat criss-cross applesauce on the floor, besides Fundy, Niki, and Eret, who were all laying side-by-side on one of the bottom bunks.

"So how'd you end up out there? Are you actually related?" George pushed up his glasses. Were they for show, or real? Wilbur couldn't tell.

"We just... found each other, I guess. All ran into the same alleyway. Lady Luck just likes us, I suppose." Sam shrugged, leaning against the wall with one hand covering his eyes. He had been thrilled when Eret showed up to tell him that he and Techno could leave the store, not have to work anymore. If the constant complaints of aching muscles said anything, he had good reason to be excited.

"Same here." Quackity shifted so he wasn't so close to Techno. "We just bumped into each other one day and ended up sticking together."

There was a beat of silence before Bad knocked on the door. "Alright, kiddos. It's nice to hear you all talking and being friendly, but it's getting late and we should all be heading off to bed."

A chorus of groans followed.

***

Hello!

It's been so long, reader. So much has happened recently, where do I even begin? I tried roller skating. It's much more horrifying in concept than in practice, I think. Maybe I've done it before. If so, I'm still quite rusty.

I can feel myself getting closer to my destination, I can feel it. I'm right on the edge of unlocking something big.

No time, my train is pulling into the most adorable seaside town as we speak. Maybe next chapter I'll have more time to write a travel log!

Yours, Arius


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i've got some THICC writer's block
> 
> also i paused in the middle of writing this to aggressively discuss baking with the discord, thank u all for that (and i want to appreciate moth for attempting to doordash lemonade at midnight, what a legend)

Tommy woke up crying, wakefulness chasing away a dream he could hardly remember. Though, he realized, wiping his eyes, reality wasn't exactly much better. His body was freezing cold, and Tommy was shivering hard because of it. He hadn't thought to bring gloves but considering it had snowed a considerable amount overnight, it was definitely a mistake.

Tommy had, luckily, had the foresight to sleep under a tree. It was mostly in case of rain or animals, not snow, but he was willing to take whatever credit he could get for only having small powdery flecks on his clothes instead of waking up three feet under.

He rummaged through his bag, rubbing the sleep from his blurry eyes, and pulled out a bar. He leaned back to take stock of the situation in the morning light, going over some important details. 

1\. He was stuck in the woods, in the snow  
2\. He had no way out of said woods, unless he could find a path before dying of dehydration, hypothermia, starvation, or a mix of all three.  
3\. It was not likely he would be rescued, considering his phone was a secret and also probably dead (and even then without any kind of signal or map)  
4\. He didn't even know where in the world he was  
5\. Tommy had, just the night before, blinked and been transported from his school to a forest definitely not anywhere near the dry, chilly farmland he was used to seeing.  
6\. He did not know how that happened

Tommy chewed, sighing. Okay, the bullet points got him nowhere. What was the goal? Wander aimlessly for god knows how many days? Lie down and wait to rot? Were there any other options? He leaned back against a giant root. He could try to set up a shelter, maybe...? No, who was Tommy trying to kid, he'd never been boy scout material. (And even then, huge snowy logs weren't actually skinny-sixteen-year-old-boy friendly.) 

So the plan. Probably die slowly, trying and likely failing to find any kind of civilization, or die even slower of hunger, cold, animals, lack of water. A pick-your-poison type scenario. Did he was to definitely die, or probably die was the question. Neither were fantastic, but a game of Russian roulette where one of the guns maybe probably had an empty chamber sounded nicer than one where all of them were full.

So Tommy packed his shit and got ready for a perfectly miserable day of walking through several feet of snow, fighting to ignore the fact that he had not the slightest fucking clue what he was doing and that he most certainly was dealing with this problem because of supernatural occurrences. Fun.

***

"You two doing good?" Karl poked his head in, knocking lightly at Ranboo's door. He paused the game and set down the controller, waving his brother in. Tubbo took the time to yawn and stretch, appreciating the break.

"We're alright. I'm worried about Tommy still, but Mr. Boo here is makin' me feel better." Tubbo lightly punched Ranboo on the arm, grinning.

"That's good." Karl took a seat on the edge of Ranboo's bed. "If it helps, I can tell you Tommy does come back in one piece. I can't say much more 'cause I don't wanna upset this timeline, but I promise that with how everything is progressing right now, he ends up back home."

Tubbo sat back. "Oh yeah, you've got the time thingy, right?" He wriggled his fingers in Karl's direction, mimicking the 'time thingy'.

"Yeah. Kinda sucks sometimes." Karl shifted so he was lying on his stomach, arms dangling over the edge of the bed. If I make even one wrong move I could seriously fuck up the timeline. Sometimes there's something so big I can't see it at all, my power just... blocks it off. Really frustrating."

"Sounds awful." Tubbo yawned again, Ranboo following suit. "Do we all have anti-powers in here?"

"I think so." Ranboo pointed to each person as he lifted their power's downside. "Can only see the future when asleep... can't say what he sees when visiting the future... and can't use his power without violently throwing up. What a bunch of losers, man."

Karl chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Alright, alright. I actually came in here to tell you guys Puffy's gone." At the look on Ranboo's face he rephrased. "Oh, not like that! We're all just too stressed and worried so she's gotta sleep in the office for a while. All the emotions started to affect her and she didn't want to say anything she'd regret, apparently."

"Oh. Okay." Tubbo sighed. "You had me worried for a second there."

"I mean, maybe don't relax too much." Karl frowned. "Does anyone know if Tommy had food on him? Or water, or anything? He could be anywhere in the world, assuming his power works like Ranboo's because we've got nothing else to work with, which means he could be in the mountains of Peru. Without food or water that could end up really bad. Phil's kind of freaking out."

"Isn't there some way to find him? Like.... someone's gotta have a useful power for that." Tubbo tried to think over his mental list of powers.

"Unless I wanna go teleport to every corner of the world and back, there's not really anything useful. Dream's still out of town, for lack of a better term, and he'll probably be back once he figures out where Tommy probably is and finds his base reality."

"Oh." Tubbo frowned. "That's not very reassuring."

"The adults are working as hard as they can, alright? Tommy'll be fine." Karl patted Tubbo on the head like he was a baby or some shit, and Tubbo batted his hand away in annoyance. Karl ignored it. "And if we find him mostly dead or something, it won't be a problem. I'm pretty sure Schlatt- wait, hold on, I've talked to him about it before-" Karl fumbled for his phone before successfully pressing the call button.

Schlatt picked up after a few rings. "Hello?" He shouted into the speaker. It sounded like he was eating lunch.

"Hey, remember that book? The revival one, or whatever it was?" Karl put the phone on speaker and set it down on the carpet. "Do you still have that?"

"Er, no." Schlatt paused for a moment, probably swallowing a bite, and continued. "Went missing ages ago, dude. Ages and ages, in the move to this godforsaken town. I swear I had it when we got here, but I looked away once and it was gone. Probably dropped it. Why? Got someone you wanna threaten with death?"

"Nevermind." Karl pressed the hang up button, silencing Schlatt's complaint, and pocketed his phone. "Okay, maybe that's not an option. But either way, I can tell you Tommy will be fine, alright? No need to stress."

"...Right." Tubbo turned back to the game as Ranboo unpaused it, going at the 2-D zombies with a little more aggression than before.

***

Hello!

This town is by the sea, and I don't think it could be more beautiful. It's such a lovely place, all pale blues and milky whites. The waves make the most fantastic sound, and I can hear tinkly wind chimes from my window. 

As much as I'd like it to be my destination, I can tell I'm quite far away.

Luckily, today I have time to talk some, so I'll finally go back and forth some more with you. Sunflower wanted to ask about trains. I must be honest, I'm not a fan of them. I get nauseous easily and it overall isn't ideal. I spent the entire time staring at the ugliest carpeting I've seen in my whole life, pressed up against a very old man and his equally old wife. It was worth it, though! I arrived here and spent a wonderful day on the beach.

Oh, the beach. It's so warm and comfortable. There were a lot of families, doing just as I was, lounging on the sand and splashing in the water. Not the best spot for a nap, but I managed anyway. Got a fantastic sunburn, but I think that builds character.

Jax offered up some... interesting points. Who and what am I going towards? If only I knew. I think that once I get there I'll find the answer. I don't know how I know that. Which town is it, why by train, why do I not answer you anymore... so many things to answer. I don't know what town, the train was fastest, and I have very little time in between sightseeing for the first time in what feels like decades and driving for hours on end. I don't think I'm journeying in my own imagination. My head couldn't dream up such wonderful things. I trust very little, but this.... I want to trust this. Whether it is real or fake or a mix of both, I don't care. I trust it. Maybe it's foolish, but I can't find it in me to care.

Plia, you'll be happy to know I listened to some music. I found a real appreciation for polar opposites, apparently. You haven't lived until you've gone from some old rock music to Celtic lullabies with less than a second of delay. Quite the jarring switch, and one I've come to appreciate. Call me pretentious all you like, but it's the perfect backing track for such abrupt changes in my life. 

I am tired quicker now, but such is life. Travel is exhausting. Speaking of, it is getting late and I should sleep. The hour when the last of the light dipped below the horizon came and went, now it's far closer to sunrise than sunset. Yell at me for my bad sleep schedule all you like, readers. I find I miss talking to you during the long stretches of travel.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey guys hey hey hey thank lark for the first half of this, they wrote the most awesome outline for this chapter ever :D
> 
> and tw for a dead body

Bad huffed, wiping his brow before grabbing the leg again. He could only hope the blood on the lawn wouldn't tip off the kids- he'd hate for there to be another 'episode', especially so quick after he took in more children. Last time they found out was a nightmare, but they had been too young to remember for very long, saving Bad from having to find an excuse.

With a sigh, he dropped the body in the woods behind the house, murmuring an apology for whatever poor policeman they sent to comb the woods in search. When the decay started it would be unrecognizable, hopefully. Maybe some animals would feast on the corpse, speeding up the process. He tossed some dead leaves over it and whispered a silent apology. It was a "wrong place, wrong time" scenario. If she hadn't been there when Bad picked up the egg...

Oh well. 

Bad forced his face to smooth out, pushing his mouth into a smile. With practiced ease he scooped up a handful of eggs from the now-patched chicken coop, watching the hens cluck frantically. "I know ladies, I'm sorry you had to see that." Bad's smile wavered, but he plastered it back on. 

It was sheer luck that it was raining. He knew from experience the water would wash enough of the blood away, and his backyard was well fenced on three sides anyway. If the kids noticed, he'd make up some story about a raccoon and some kind of animal.

He pushed open the sliding door and stepped inside, kicking off his shoes. George and Eret sat in the living room, reading books. George glanced up when Bad walked in, and his eyes widened marginally. "Dad, wh- what happened to the eggs?"

Bad looked down, fighting back a frown. He hadn't noticed in the moment, but the eggs were red with blood. He'd sheltered them against his chest while walking into the house, so the rain hadn't washed any of it off. "I cut my hand on the coop fencing," He said quickly. Of course he hadn't actually, Bad was always careful, but a smudge here and a quick nudge of a dirt clod there and their eyes tricked them into seeing it.

George made a sound of understanding and went back to the book, while Eret stared fiercely at Bad. He nodded awkwardly. "Want some eggs? I promise they're clean on the inside."

"...Yeah." Eret continued to give him the side-eye while Bad rinsed off the eggs and cracked them into a pan. Bad froze. Could Eret read minds? It was a silly thought, honestly just paranoid thinking, but Eret paused as well.

𝘊𝘢𝘯... 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦? Bad thought, staring down Eret. He didn't want to go any further but his traitorous brain filled in more for him. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘕𝘰, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵- 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥- 𝘯𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳- 𝘯𝘰 𝘐 𝘋𝘐𝘋

Eret suddenly giggled, jolting back to reality. "Sorry, I spaced out for a second there. I'll go get Fundy, I know he loves eggs. Be right back!"

Bad let out a whoosh of air, relieved beyond belief. "Right, go on ahead kiddo."

***

Eret burst into the room, interrupting Sapnap mid-sentence. "Bad just killed someone. He was thinking about it, Fundy, holy shit- I don't know-- I can't tell if he'd paranoid or figured me out or straight up lying but there's blood on the eggs and he's acting really weird and-"

"What?" Sapnap practically shouted. "My dad- wait, thinking?" He looked to Fundy, who burst out laughing.

𝘌𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶. "It's a practical joke. He thinks he's really funny." 

"...Right." Sapnap leaned back, eyes narrowed.

𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦.

Fundy sighed. 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴- 𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. Eret coughed to cover the awkward silence.

𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺? 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱.

"Alright, sorry to bother you two." Eret waved quickly and slipped away, shutting the door.

"Anyways. What were you saying?" Fundy turned back to Sapnap.

***

Hello, again!

There's not much to say, as I'm on the road again. I never thought I would enjoy musicals and emo-rock, but here I am listening to both. I forgot how sad music is, really, I keep concerning the other people on the bus by tearing up at a sad song.

Lark mentioned how fast I'm going. I do seem to be moving at an alarming pace, to an outsider. But from my point of view everything is proceeding as normal. Lark also said I seem to have a gift for knowing what's going to happen. Do I? I'm not entirely sure...

Well, anyway, it's my stop. I'll see you all next chapter!

As usual, goodbye! 

Your friend, Arius


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone say thank u to lark for writing the outline of this chapter and making it *way* better than it was originally gonna be (and for encouraging me to inflict as much pain as possible by the end of the fic)

Dream reached out again. His mind was clouded, tired from all the jumping about he'd been doing. Base realities were a fickle thing, at times. It kept Dream up at night that he had no way of telling of the reality he lived in was the one he had been born into- for all he knew, Sapnap was supposed to be his blood-related brother and not one of his best friends (or adopted brother, Dream reminded himself.)

A thread called out to him, glowing softly purple. Dream's heart sang with recognition- he had spent months looking for this single strand. Of course, in real time, he had probably been gone for only a few days, but time passed differently in-between realities. Hence his exhaustion. Dream tugged on the string, a whisper of home curling around his heart.

There came the familiar gut-twisting drop, the moment of free-fall before he landed- and Dream was back in his bedroom. He took a deep breath in and out, closing his eyes to appreciate the familiar smell. He pushed open the door and immediately ran into George, who dropped his bowl of chips.

"You're back!" He shouted happily, before tackling Dream in a hug and calling down the stairs. "Dream's home!"

"He is?" Sapnap poked his head out of his room, cheering when he spotted his brother. "Oh, he is! Hey!" 

It wasn't uncommon for Dream to disappear unexpectedly and pop up hours or days later, but his family always acted as if he'd been gone for far longer. They used to try and pretend everything was normal upon his return, maybe make some celebratory pasta for dinner, but it always upset Dream since it felt like he'd been gone for weeks or months. As soon as he told them, of course, he was greeted with hugs and wide smiles every time he found home.

"Did you find anything?" Bad stepped out of his bedroom and Dream whistled at the dark eyebags he was sporting.

"Er- kind of. I ran into some helpful people while I was out- I think..." Dream racked his brain. He'd reached for a world that would take him to Tommy, and in one of them he stumbled across a group of hikers about to head into a forest. They had funny names- oh! "Artemis, Grass, and Emu. In their reality, they were hunting for Tommy in this huge forest. That's the one thing that stayed the same- the woods. In a few of the realities I found the hikers again, sometimes there were more and sometimes less, but the place was still there."

"Who? Artemis, Emu... who?" George finally let go, stepping back. "Do I know them?"

"No, they probably live really far away in this reality. I doubt we'll see them here. Anyways, it doesn't matter all that much. If we're lucky he's in the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest. Somewhere in Montana." Dream waved when Quackity joined them in the hallway, receiving a pat on the shoulder.

"Montana, huh?" Bad checked his phone, blinking owlishly. "Alright. I'm going to call Phil. He's already put together a group for when we find him- George, you're going. He'll want to start as soon as possible, so pack your bag."

George nodded, and Bad gave him a thumbs up before stepping back into his room and closing the door, leaving his kids alone. Sapnap crossed his arms. "How long were you even looking, dude?"

"Hah, few months." Dream shrugged, and felt the bone-deep exhaustion set in again. "I think I'm gonna pass out for like a full week."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Right now we need you to stay up in case anything else happens." Quackity nodded before stepping on one of George's spilled chips when he tried to walk away. "Oh fuck me, are you serious?"

"Sorry. Got excited," George mumbled. "I'll clean em' up, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Quackity rolled his eyes jokingly before laughing and jogging down the stairs.

Dream yawned for what felt like forever, rubbing his eyes to try and stay awake. Sapnap noticed and shoved him lightly in the direction of his room. "Ignore Quackity, go get some sleep."

"Mm, thanks." Dream sighed before shutting his bedroom door and collapsing onto his bed, making a sound of contentment at the feeling of rest, finally finally finally. He didn't bother taking off his shoes, but who could fault him?

***

"Everyone knows their roles?" Phil took a deep breath, and Eret frowned. She could feel the anxiety and drowsiness radiating off him- what was he think, pushing himself to such a limit? "We've got- okay, Schlatt is late, but everyone else..." He whispered their names, pointing at the group one by one. "Eret, George, Ranboo."

"Shouldn't you rest first?" Eret lay a gentle hand on his arm. Phil scoffed, pulling it away.

"Thanks for the concern, kiddo, but this is Tommy we're talking about. I can't let him get hurt, not while he's under my care." 

"...alright." Eret lay off, having had enough experience with protective parents to know Phil wasn't planning on giving in. They shrugged and turned to the group, picking up someone's bag. "Does anyone know when Schlatt's coming?"

The distaste was probably clear in her voice, but oh well. Eret didn't have to like Schlatt, even if they were in the same friend group. He just wasn't trustworthy, Eret learned that pretty fast after meeting him. It wasn't his fault, exactly, the hand he'd been dealt was kind of shitty, but he certainly abused his power too often. Eret glanced around and found everyone shaking their heads, before-

"Oh wait, I just got a message from Niki. Sounds like Skeppy's breaking the speed limit to try and get him here on time. Mystery solved." Ranboo glanced down at his phone again, stifled a giggle, and turned the phone around to show a picture of a clearly horrified Schlatt, sitting in the passenger seat next to Skeppy, who was leaning over the wheel like one might on a bike if they wanted to go faster.

"I think we can go through customs and wait for him on the other side, right?" George shifted impatiently and Phil, seeming equally ready to get a move on, nodded and herded everyone through the front doors.

Schlatt appeared about twenty minutes later, bringing with him apologies and the vague smell of alcohol. Skeppy's face was carved into a frown, but he managed to wave at the little group. Niki grinned apologetically, saluting a little hello to her friends. 

Schlatt shook himself free of his adoptive father's death grip and stalked over to his classmates, scowling heavily. "Sorry for bein' late." He noticed the offended look Ranboo was giving him and rolled his eyes. "No, I wasn't drinking today or on the way here, these were the only clothes I had. Jesus, you all think so little of me."

"I wonder why that is," Eret muttered under his breath.

No time for stupid quarrels, though, as their plane was called. Everyone scrambled for the good seats and Eret got, quite unluckily, stuck in the aisle seat with Phil directly next to her and Schlatt sitting in the window seat. 

Well, at least one positive thing could come from it. Eret waited til the plane had taken off (ignoring how they could hear Ranboo's breath stutter behind them with every tiny bump and shift), and peeked into Schlatt's mind. He was definitely on the cusp of sleep, Eret realized with a little grin. Just because Schlatt was gonna do him a favor didn't mean he had to like the guy.

𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵?

𝘖𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. Schlatt shot Eret a fierce glare before pointedly turning to face out the window.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭? 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥. Eret nodded their head towards Phil, who was reading a book through heavily lidded eyes. Up close he looked even worse, deep circles under his eyes. The stress was definitely getting to him. Eret saw the moment when Schlatt realized Eret wasn't asking for herself and nodded quietly.

"Hey, Phil, aren't you tired? You look like a mess." Schlatt said quietly.

Phil huffed. "Thanks."

"Oh, it's not a bad thing. Just... 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥?"

Phil's expression turned to one of recognition before going slack as he fell back against the seat, immediately out like a light. Eret sighed with appreciation, reaching out and seeing how Phil's stress had dissipated. 

"Did you just...?" Ranboo poked his head between Phil and Schlatt's seats. When he get a nod, he whistled and raised his eyebrows. "Damn, you are going to catch so much shit for that when he wakes up."

"Shut it," Schlatt mumbled, leaning into the wall so he could try and drift off again.

***

I've made it! My old friend was quite shocked to see me, I'll say that much. He said I should stay the night before he helps me out, since the shock isn't something I should deal with after so much travel. I can't help but be a little scared.

You know, he's not the person I quite remember. He's much older now, though so am I. He cried when he met me again, but I shouldn't go into too much detail or I'll cry myself. I can't wait to tell you everything, though!

I swear, as soon as I remember myself, I'll tell you everything. Every little detail. I don't care if you want it or not, you're getting it! I have so much to thank you for, and all this sun has been so good for me. I'm listening to more music right now- it's guitar music right now, something sweet and simple. The singer is a girl, and she reminds me of someone. I think I must have had a sister, once.

Anyway, I could say so much more but I don't want to burn out. Tomorrow is the big reveal! I'll see you all then, readers.

Your friend, Arius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sometimes i write a line and sit there for five minutes wondering how in the world i got in so deep. skeppy is schlatt's dad in the story why am i like this- why is this even a thing- ugh


	28. Chapter 28

"We're supposed to believe that our dad just killed someone?" Quackity's voice rose in pitch towards the end, and he leaned forward. Fundy put his hands up, trying to calm him down.

"Look, you have to trust us."

"Why?" Sapnap glared. "You do realize we met you two days ago, right? We know basically nothing about who you are, nothing near enough to know if we should put any kind of trust in you."

"Well it's not like we can prove anything." Techno frowned, crossing his arms. "I don't think you're going to just believe us but it's your own fault if you don't listen and end up six feet under."

"Was that a threat?" George's voice was small.

"No, it wasn't a threat," Wilbur assured him, giving Techno a hard look. "We're all on edge. We know Eret is completely trustworthy, and if he thinks Bad killed someone and stashed the body in the woods out back, it probably happened. That, or your dad's been reading too many scary stories."

"That doesn't tell me anything." Dream tilted his head. "You're trying to tell us that your friend has... what, superpowers? And we're supposed to just buy that with no proof or anything."

"I mean, we could..." Fundy glanced over, raising his eyebrows. Wilbur nodded. Promptly, Fundy disappeared into thin air. "I could, for example, do that."

George, Quackity, Dream, and Sapnap erupted into screams, scrambling back. Dream looked around frantically as if he expected Fundy to magically appear next to him, and waved his arms about. "What's happening??"

"I'm still right here." Fundy reappeared, undeniably smug grin on his face. "That proof enough for you?"

"How did- how did you do that?" George stuttered out.

"Practice. I can mostly do it on command now." Fundy puffed up with pride. "We've been working on stuff like that."

Niki made a noise of agreement, grinning, and Sapnap cast her a horrified look. "What can you do?"

"Oh, uh-" Niki was cut off by a loud and sudden "Shhhh" from Wilbur. She gave him a funny look, but he just held up one finger to silence the group. He paused for a second, seemingly listening to something, and hissed.

"The T.V. is on," He said, as if that was supposed to explain anything. Wilbur noticed the looks of confusion and elaborated. "I mean, they found it. The body. The news reporter is.... woods behind Parkside Avenue. Isn't that where...? Don't you guys live....?"

Quackity froze. "Y- I mean, yeah, we live on Parkside... you can hear things better?" He looked as if he were straining his ears. "I still dunno if I can trust that, I mean you still could be lyi-"

Wilbur pushed the door open, and the voice of a newscaster filtered up from the kitchen. "-reports say the body was a young male. We have yet to identify him, but our Maple County Forensics medical examiners are already working. Once again, if you have a male relative or friend who has gone missing in or around the Parkside neighborhood, you may be able to help identify the victim and bring the killer to justice. And now, on to our next segment, which is..."

Wilbur kicked the door shut. "Proof enough?"

"I..." George glanced to his brothers, eyes wide with fear. "We're actually... this is real."

"Yeah. Told you." Sam crossed his arms. "Now what are we planning on doing about it? I mean, this is probably way bigger than us, but-"

"Dad wouldn't hurt a fly!" Sapnap glared at them. "You just came in here, accused my dad of murder, and think we're just going to fall for it? I mean, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever freakin'-"

"Listen!" Eret rubbed at his temples. "You all are so loud, please calm down. You don't have to believe us, we're trying to say that we could solve the crime. I don't think a lot of Parkside police officers can walk through walls and read minds, can they? If it's your dad, we can find the proof and see what happens next. Nothing is concrete yet."

Dream frowned. "So you're saying we should investigate a murder. Us. Ten year olds."

"Yeah." Techno shrugged. "Why not? It's not like anyone else here's gonna be able to do it as well as we probably could, right?"

"We're kids," Quackity said bluntly. "We don't know where to start."

"Then let's make a list. C'mon, this could be a piece of cake." Fundy nudged Wilbur with his elbow. "I bet you've got a notebook somewhere we can use."

"Only if Techno writes," Niki added. "He's got nice handwriting."

The four exchanged nervous looks before coming to a silent agreement. From the look on Eret's face, it was a favorable one. George turned back to Eret and nodded. "Okay, we're in. I have a note book right..." He hopped up and rummaged through a desk drawer, eventually finding a blue spiral notebook and sharpie. He tossed it to Techno. "Here. Now we just write down what we know, right?"

"I guess." Techno popped the cap off the pen and began to scribble on the front of the notebook.

'𝘋𝘕𝘋 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬' It read. "This is so he doesn't poke into it," Techno explained before continuing to the first page.

'𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸:

-𝘉𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦.  
-𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳.  
-𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘌𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮.  
-𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦. (𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦.)'

"Is that all?" Techno glanced up.

"I think so."

"What's the next step?" Niki drew her knees up to her chest. "I mean, where do we start? I don't think the police are going to appreciate a bunch of kids sneaking around, right? Do we just go wait for another murder? That doesn't feel very helpful."

"I say we poke around where the body was found. They can't have someone there all the time, right?" Dream didn't make eye contact as he spoke, looking around the room instead. "It would be pretty easy to duck under some police tape. And there's a lot of us- we could try and pretend to be on a field trip or something since none of us look alike, and try to get inside the building."

"I suppose. But wouldn't-"

"What are you all doing in here?" Bad chuckled, pushing open the door. Wilbur scooted out of the way to give it room to open, ending up almost on Quackity's lap. He gave an awkward little wave and a whispered apology.

Techno snapped the notebook closed and held it up. "DND."

Bad raised one eyebrow. "Isn't that game a little... involved for kids of your age? It's cool that you're playing it, though, I used to love it when I was younger."

"Oh, haha." Fundy looked like he was about to piss himself. Not quite cut out for keeping secrets, apparently. "That's- that's nice."

"Yeah. If any of you need help with your characters, I've got some great tips. You have fun, alright?" He started to retreat, but didn't close the door until a chorus of goodbyes and agreements followed.

George let out a big sigh. "That was scary."

"Agreed." Techno opened the notebook again. "But now we need to keep working. Anyone up for more lists?"

"Hey," Sapnap said quietly. "Where did Dream go?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao so sorry to that person that can't read the italics on their phone-
> 
> also hm something (or someone) is missing i wonder why


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fantastic news everyone, moth has successfully doordashed lemonade
> 
> heads up: i know nothing about montana and its forests/airports so don't come at me for accuracy (and also- just bc i'm writing professionals doesn't mean i am one, so some of the facts aren't gonna be entirely accurate!!)
> 
> aaaand moth and aster wanted me to tell you all that they pretty much figured out who arius is, to my disappointment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: watch out, ranboo does throw up (directly after they go into the forest) so just skip that bit if that might upset you

When the plane landed, almost at 3 o'clock pm, everyone stumbled out to a rental car on wobbly legs. They tossed their bags in the trunk, since they'd be going straight to the forest. George read off the directions from his phone to the forest, letting everyone else sit the thankful silence. 

Phil looked like he might spontaneously combust from the pressure as he broke the speed limit trying to make it in time. They pulled up to the forest around 3:40, climbing out in silence to stretch. Ranboo paused, staring up at the huge, dark trees, and whistled.

"Wow," he said softly. There wasn't much more he could have said in the moment. It was truly beautiful, almost black-looking wood standing out so harshly against the pure white snow still fluttering down from the cloudy sky. Under the trees the snow was specked with light that filtered between the leaves, giving it a magical look. "Is this really the right place?"

George pulled out his phone and opened a messaging app before holding it up for everyone to see. "Dream said this is where we're supposed to be. I didn't think it was gonna be so... big."

"You can say that again." Phil looked up at the trees, annoyed expression on his face. "We should probably split up to cover more ground, right?" He jogged over to a large sign and frowned. "Oh, jeez, this place is fucking massive. It's a over a two-day drive through, if you don't stop once. This is going to take forever."

"I mean..." Ranboo held up one hand to attract Phil's attention. "I could... y'know."

"Don't you still get nauseous?" Schlatt asked, annoyance tinging his voice.

"Yeah, but this is more important than my comfort level. Besides, the faster we find him the better." Ranboo took a deep breath. He waited for Phil's nod, and scrunched his hands into fists with anticipation. "Does anyone mind, like, giving me a hug or something first?"

Phil nodded without saying anything and drew Ranboo in. They'd all seen how he operated at least once before, Ranboo would hold someone and build up confidence before disappearing. He didn't teleport often, since even one long-distance teleport made him extremely nauseous. 

For a second it didn't look like he would be going anywhere but, sure enough, he did blink out. Phil sighed, looking as if the five second hug hadn't been enough, and nodded firmly. "We're ready?"

George nodded. "We're ready."

The plan, (though it was less of a plan and more of the groundwork for one) went something like this: They found Tommy, or he would find them. They would first use George's power to block off any exit routes there might be using material from the surrounding trees, then have Eret try and communicate with Tommy telepathically. They didn't want to force him to do anything, but Schlatt was there with his convincing power if they needed him. It relied heavily on Tommy not teleporting again, which was why they would move quietly as to not startle him.

After a moment of silent looks, everyone pointed themselves in a direction and set off.

***

Ranboo's stomach twisted as he fell, fell, fell- and hit the ground. He swore, closing his eyes to make the spinning feeling go away. Teleporting left him disoriented and feeling like he might hurl, but it was the fastest way to cover land.

"T-Tommy?" he croaked out without opening his eyes.

There was no answer. Ranboo waited a minute, giving him time to answer, before nodding and aiming for probably fifty feet away. He scrunched his eyes shut even tighter when the big drop came, sending him spiraling through the abyss, stomach rebelling with every motion, head spinning- and he landed. 

This time, Ranboo fell to his knees and dry heaved into a bush. His head pounded as if there was someone inside trying to escape, and he felt like utter crap. "Fuck," He said softly. He took a handful of snow and pressed it to his forehead, only succeeding in making himself far too cold.

Ranboo took a deep breath, wobbling to his feet. There was a reason he avoided using the power. Goddamnit. "Just making sure, you're not here, right Tommy?"

There was a rustle in the bushes to his left, the ones he hadn't just fallen into. Ranboo opened one eye a tiny bit, wincing when the light bouncing off the snow flashed directly into it, and blinked away the white mark it left while trying to see who or what was there.

It was a rabbit. Ranboo cursed, and aimed sixty feet this time.

He kept going until night, til his stomach was empty and his mouth tasted of dead things. Ranboo walked all the way out of that forest, cursing himself the entire way for not being stronger, knowing that it was his fault Tommy was spending another day in the freezing snow. He made it to the edge of the trees before collapsing. Eret jogged over and offered a helping hand that Ranboo gratefully took. 

He couldn't look any of them in the eyes for the rest of the night.

***

Tommy yawned, tossing down his stick. He'd spent most of the day digging a small shelter between the roots he'd originally fallen asleep by. He had gathered sticks beforehand, luckily, which meant that even as dusk swept over his little makeshift camp he was able to finish the little dugout.

Tommy messily tossed the sticks over the top of the hole and draped one of his jackets, a waterproof one, over them when he was finished. That way he'd stay dry if it snowed, and hopefully it would be able to keep some of his body heat in. 

He carefully lifted one side and slipped in, swearing softly when he landed funny on one ankle, and sat down in the damp, muddy bottom of the hole. What a way to live, Tommy thought. At least he'd remembered food.

He opened another bar, checking how many he had left... four. It seemed the jacket was already working, as the ground was still freezing cold but the air was warming up some. Tommy took a bite and choked back tears at the thought of waking up and walking for hours through the frozen landscape.

Maybe his luck would turn when the sun rose.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i planned this badly and had to wing it but ohhh welllll here's some plot for u mf's. i might get skinned for posting this while lark is offline, pray for me lads
> 
> also it's been a while since i mentioned it so join the discord if you're cool, you might get some bonbes and learn information that will help to make you hate me when i put up the final chapter :3 (or you might end up helping me figure out the word "addition" at midnight thanks aster-) 
> 
> https://discord.gg/vKXrggWH82

So. They knew. Bad should've known those kids were going to be trouble the second they stepped into the house. It was supposed to be a secret, nobody was supposed to figure it out, and there he was having to decide how to explain something so much bigger than him, than all of them, to some strangers.

He'd left the news on entirely by accident, too. He didn't mean to worry everyone. Bad sighed, turning off the T.V. A real shame, that. He didn't like his children being exposed to such things. There was no helping it once it happened, he'd heard Wilbur kick open the door.

Then he'd gone and shocked Dream, another complete accident. Nobody noticed til Bad was walking down the stairs. A quiet, "Where did Dream go?" Followed Bad's exit. He winced, knowing exactly what had happened. It had first happened when Dream was too young to remember, and when he came back a moment later he told Bad that a teenage boy had told him what to do. He wasn't able to explain further, but Bad was sure he'd find out someday, when he met some brown haired teen with a time-power.

His own power was destructive. He hated every tiny last bit of it, the entire premise disgusted him. To do that to a person... Bad shuddered. He didn't use his power, not even once. It had activated once, entirely by accident, and the look of shock and fear on his friend's face was enough to send him spiraling. Bad hadn't looked further into using it. He often wished he could have had something useful, like he was sure his own kids had. A sense of belonging brought them to him, an undeniable pull. The same pull that made him bring in the new additions to their little family.

But at the same time they didn't belong. A little voice whispered at the back of Bad's mind, pulsing with the knowledge that these kids didn't belong. They were just as he'd thought before: additions. They were extra, overflow, a surplus. Sure, his family was a messy patchwork one, but it functioned, chugging along merrily. They'd been fine. But now, these new children had to come in all rough-and-tumble and immediately reveal the secret Bad was trying so desperately to keep.

He needed these kids to have a normal childhood. He would kill for it.

With a growl, Bad stood. An itch bloomed under his skin. He needed to go blow off some goddamn steam. He shut the front door a little too hard, not really caring. At least they'd know he went out.

***

"And we're sure that's it?" Techno paused before shutting the notebook, listening to a small chorus of "yes"'s fill the room. He sighed, leaning back, and tried to think hard. Did that work? Would Eret hear him better if he mentally shouted? Worth a shot. 𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬?

Eret piped up right away, and Techno made a quick mental note that shouting worked. 𝘕𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬-𝘪𝘯-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺-𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭.

𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. Techno sighed and sat up, closing his eyes for a second before-

Niki screamed, leaping up. She landed in Sapnap's lap before scrambling to her feet, staring at Dream. He sat in the middle of the room, slowly blinking. "....this is the right one, right?"

"I- probably? Right one what?" Fundy leaned in curiously. "What in the world?"

"I.... I have no idea." Dream looked around shakily. "Never wanna do that again."

Sam patted him on the back. "You'll get used to it." At the horrified look on Dream's face, he amended his statement. "In your own time. Eret's gotten used to his power pretty quick, right?"

"I'd say." Eret nodded with a grin. "But I think I've had more practice time. The real MVP here is Niki for sure."

"Wait, you all- you--?" Quackity narrowed his eyes, looking around. "None of you have been reading my mind, right? This shit's too creepy."

Eret frowned. "Well, not on purpose. You're loud without talking."

Before Quackity could answer, probably with a shout, Wilbur butted in. "Do any of you have powers? That you know of?"

Sapnap scoffed. "No, of course-"

"Yeah," George said bluntly. "I can make things." He flushed when he realized everyone was gaping at him and quickly demonstrated, taking a handful of mattress like it was putty and rolling it into a circle. He stared at it for a second and the surface grew bumpy before darkening in color. A moment later and George peeled his orange, passing a slice to a clearly horrified Sapnap. "What?"

"You never said- you- oh good lord." Sapnap scowled.

"Hey, man, I've been there and lemme tell you, you can dwell on it or move on." Willbur patted Sapnap on the shoulder. "I suggest you move on for now, since your dad is out and this would be a fantastic time to do some poking around the neighborhood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shortchapterwho


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> forewarning: if u have any kind of investment in this fic b warned you're about to be very upset with me
> 
> :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw for more throwing up/talk of throwing up. nothing major, just some brief mentions here and there :)

Dawn broke, and Ranboo hadn't slept a wink. His stomach was rolling and his whole body ached, but he couldn't rest knowing Tommy was still out in the cold while he slept in a hotel room, safe and sound. The closest he'd ever come to sleeping outside was camping once in the fifth grade, and even then it was in a tent and he shivered out of his skin. And that was with layers and blankets and someone else to fill the small space with body heat. Tommy, as far as anyone knew, probably packed very little, and definitely didn't have a tent.

So, as soon as the sun crept over the horizon, Ranboo climbed out of bed and threw on his still-drying snow gear, wincing when he found the inside of his boots were caked with melted snow, and snuck out the door. He tucked the keycard into his pocket and hoped he hadn't woken anyone up. As far as they needed to know, he wanted to get breakfast or go on a walk.

The rising sun reflected painfully bright off the snow, and Ranboo found himself glad the sunlight was so broken up under the cover of the trees. He didn't need to add a headache to an upset stomach. Yet another reason he was out so early, Ranboo wasn't hungry and therefore didn't have anything in his system to possibly throw up. 

And so it began. As soon as he was behind a large trunk, Ranboo crossed his arms to simulate contact and built up confidence, preparing for the inevitable drop. He let himself plummet through blackness, ears popping with the rush of freezing air, a reminder the first teleport of the day was always the worst- and he landed. Ranboo stumbled forward, tripping over a branch and falling to his knees. That one was an accident. He stood, brushing powdery snow off his pants, and looked around with one hand over his eyes like a sailor. 

"Tommy? You here, dude?" He called. Ranboo's voice echoed around a bit, but there came no response. He waited again, standing on tiptoes and looking around before pushing off again. The rush, the twist of the stomach, and the landing he didn't so much 'land' as he did 'miss'. This time, luckily, he was able to catch himself before falling, but leaned over with his hands on his knees and retched dryly into a bush.

Once Ranboo was ready he scrunched up his face with anticipation and turned. "Tommy? It's Ranboo, are you here?"

As before, no answer. He craned his neck to see through the snow covered bushes before sighing, letting himself drop again. Branches whipped his face as Ranboo fell past through the inky black, just another reminder that he was definitely somewhere. Somewhere he couldn't see, only fall through when he teleported. Someday he'd tell Phil about it. Today was not the day.

Right away something was different. Ranboo's eye was immediately caught by a flash of color and he was so surprised he fell back instead of forward and entirely forgot to be sick. "Tommy?"

He pushed to his feet and lurched forward, peeling back the half-snow-covered jacket to find- yes! A layer of sticks, underneath which was a blond teen boy. He'd be damned if there were two blond teens that were living homeless in the woods in the middle of Winter. Ranboo bit back the urge to whoop, pulling out his phone and- oh, fuck, he'd forgotten his.... how would he even...?

With a sigh, Ranboo decided he would wholeheartedly regret the decision he was about to make. Dropping his keycard on Tommy's jacket, he aimed for Phil. The further the target, the longer the arrow had to fly. Not the most fun option but the only one he had. Taking a deep breath, Ranboo flew backwards into the inky void.

The look on Phil's face when Ranboo landed, snow covered and looking highly ill, was definitely worth the bothersome trip. He looked Ranboo up.... and down... before bursting into rapid-fire questions.

"What are you doing? So early? Were you out looking for Tommy? Did you find him??" Phil stood, earning an annoyed groan from Schlatt, who had drawn the short straw and had to share a bed with him. Though, Ranboo recalled thinking, Phil was the one who really got the bad luck. Schlatt was a notoriously loud snorer and rolled over a million times per night. Not ideal for stressed dads trying to find their teenage son who may or may not already be dead of hypothermia. Which reminded him.

"Found him."

"You what?" Eret was up in a flash, bedhead on full display as they gaped at Ranboo. "You were looking so early? It's like..." She checked the bedside clock. "Holy shit, it's way too early to be magicking around."

"I know, I know, but it worked." Ranboo shrugged, blinking hard. He'd spent far too long in whatever hellish dark dimension he was transported to, and needed a second to adjust to the warm, bright room. "I found Tommy."

"Okay, well where is he? Can you take us to him?"

"I.... it's a teleporting thing, I think it'll be easier if I teleport back and then send you my location or something, since I don't know the directions. I just know my keycard is still there and I can aim for it."

"Right, right." Phil nudged Schlatt awake and stood, not bothering with coffee or a glass of water or even clothes as he went straight to the boots and jacket phase of getting dressed. 

***

In an embarrassingly long amount of time, everyone was suited up and ready. Ranboo saluted, willing himself to be strong and not ask for a hug, before pushing off and feeling this time the painfully cold slap of inky black water. Okay, that one hurt. He gasped for air, painfully salty water coating his lungs and throat. He couldn't tell which way was up, he couldn't-

He landed, dry as a bone, in a patch of sunlight.

...right.

This time Tommy was awake, and staring at him with a mixture of shock, disbelief, and horror. Ranboo held up a hand as his body attempted to throw up whatever was in his body (half a banana George had practically crammed down his throat after learning Ranboo hadn't eaten, and a sip of burning hot coffee). Obviously, it didn't work very well, and Ranboo turned back to face him again.

"This is going to sound weird, but I swear it'll make sense in like... twenty minutes, okay?" He looked down at his phone, trying to figure out the location sharing. Did it share his location with all his contacts, or just Phil? How could he edit it so it was only-

Ranboo was drawn out of his thoughts when the sound of a choked, watery sob hit his ears. His head shot up, surprise washing over him when he saw Tommy standing stock still, wiping his eyes with one hand and the other clenched in a fist at his side.

"Is everything okay?" He asked softly.

"No, it's-" Tommy's voice got choked up and he looked away. "I didn't think you were coming back."

Ranboo cooed sadly, moving closer and practically shouting for joy when Tommy let himself be drawn in for a hug, shakily wrapping his arms around Ranboo and holding on like his life depended on it.

"We'll always come back for you, no matter what."

***

Hello.

It's our first time meeting, I believe. I'd like to introduce myself.

I'm the Narrator of this story. I don't know why I am writing this, or why I am putting it out into the world... but I am. There's not really a point in writing such a story, or in reading it, since we can all assume it will end in tragedy. After all, bad luck seems to follow these characters.

So that begs the question. Why are you reading this? After all, you must have read the tags. You must know this story is full of pain and heartbreak by now. You could have scrolled on past. So why are you here?

I suppose you could counter that I wrote this, put it out there for everyone to see. You'd be right, of course, but I don't take pleasure in recalling such a tale. You, on the other hand, have no obligation to read this. So why do you?

Do you enjoy watching someone suffer? Do you like it because it makes you feel better about your own life? Or is it simply because you want to occupy your mind with something besides real life?

So many questions, so little time.

Til next we meet, reader.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> moth i know i'm not good at writing police don't come at me /nm /hj
> 
> HRRG THANKS ASTER FOR TELLING ME THE MISTAKE /gen ITS BEEN FIXED

Wilbur's definition of "poking around the neighborhood" turned out to be more of a brisk walk around the block. After a while, someone realized Mr. Fearless-Leader was just walking them in circles. Niki called everyone to a stop.

"Do we have a plan for this? What are we doing?"

"Looking for clues, I thought." Fundy frowned, leaning on someone's fence. He hissed when he found the paint to be wet, but relaxed when it was only wet from the rain. "I mean, what else could we do?"

"Where was the body found again?" George butted in. "I mean, if we could figure that out I think things would go a lot faster."

"How do we find out, though?" Techno said plainly. "I mean, it's not like a bunch of kids can walk into a police station and ask for important information on the recent murder." He paused. "Now that I say it like that, should we even be doing this?"

"Don't think too hard about it," Sapnap waved off his question. "I think George is onto something. Can anyone, like.... figure out how to steal information? Like... whose power would be best for that? I don't think we're getting in normally, and Dream and George aren't exactly right for the job... which leaves one of you six."

Sam stepped back. "I'm out too. So is Techno and Wil, if you look at it. Healing and sound isn't useful."

"So Niki or Fundy. Do we want to walk in easy and get out visible, or float a file down the hallway?" Wilbur looked around to gauge the responses of the group. "Upside, Niki can walk right in, but on the downside she'll still be visible. Fundy can get in but he'll have to go in the front and dodge people and maybe steal keys to get in anywhere, and then figure out how to leave while looking like a floating file."

"I think I can work with being visible," Niki offered. "I could be in and out like that." She snapped her fingers to demonstrate.

Wilbur nodded. "Alright, then. Want us to wait anywhere specific?"

"Anywhere is fine, just don't go too far in case we need to run. I'm not great with figuring out where to go on my own." She waited til Sam nodded before turning to the building. "Anyone know where I might be able to find the case file?"

"I think it should just be on someone's desk," Sapnap said, gesturing to the front door. "I remember Officer Brandon walking me around in there, and I kept seeing files laying around. It was a while ago, though, so it might've changed."

"I remember that too." Dream nodded, also staring at the entrance. "Should be pretty close to the front of the building, but I suggest you don't go in through the front since a ton of people will see you. Go through the alley to the left, walk right through that wall and it'll be right there."

"Got it," Niki said. "What specifically am I looking for? We don't know whose file we're looking for, right?"

"Trust me, nobody in this town gets murdered, and I do mean nobody," Dream reassured her. "Now go! We'll wait by this tree out front." He pointed to a large oak tree with one hand, lightly nudging Niki towards the building with the other. She nodded firmly and turned away.

From then on, she was on her own. Eret didn't have enough reach to talk to her from outside, and if she didn't come out nobody would know what happened. Luckily, she was walking into a police station and not some criminal's house, so the worst case scenario was getting caught and having to wait for Bad to come pick her up. Still, that came with its own risks. There was only one obvious reason for them to be there and Bad wouldn't be a fan of it if he knew.

Niki looked at the brick wall, taking a deep breath and reaching for her power. It activated quickly and an easy tingle washed over her body, strongest at her fingertips and toes. She didn't waste any time lest someone see, walking into the building without second thought.

It hit her once she was in the hallway that had someone been there, she would be in far more trouble than if she'd only been caught with the file. Niki brushed that off, not bothering to dwell on that scary thought for too long, and followed a sticky-note sign that apparently pointed to someone's office.

She stared at the thick wooden door, unable to see if anyone was inside because the window was up too high for her to reach. Niki jumped once, cringing at how loud the landing was, but got her answer: the office was, at least for now, unoccupied.

In and out, Niki reminded herself. Once she had the file she needed to walk out the front, since she couldn't carry more than a pebble through any kind of wall. It was going to be awkward but her best bet was to try and avoid any kind of contact. Fundy's power would have been more useful in that department, Niki thought with a sigh. She pushed through the door anyway and walked to the desk, wasting no time with flipping open a file and skimming the contents.

Okay, that was confusing. She squinted, pushing the papers more into the light so she could see them better. Niki looked for a defining... alright, it was a robbery. She flipped it shut and tossed the file aside, picking up another right away.

As she slowly worked through the pile, Niki kept glancing up at the door, so often she kept losing what she'd been looking at. Finally- blessedly- when she looked back down the word she was hunting for caught her eye. 'Murder', the file read. Thank god. Well, not thank god about the murder, but- Niki stopped her own thoughts short. She didn't have time to argue with herself.

However, her luck seemed to be running out. There came the sound of two people walking just around the corner as soon as she carefully shut the office door. Niki swore, hugging the file to her torso, and did the only logical thing on her mind. Which was duck into a wall.

She blinked slowly. But she wasn't able to...? She rubbed her fingers along the edge of the file, eyes straining in the pitch black even though she knew she wouldn't see anything. New achievement. Niki grinned, unable to help the rush of adrenaline. She poked back out when the muffled footsteps receded. She turned down the hall to the front, glancing back to see the two officers walking with their backs turned to her, and ran smack-dab into someone else.

Niki yelped, leaping back, and looked up at the man she'd just collided with. He furrowed his brow, confused. "Are you lost, hun?"

She glanced to his nametag. Officer Davids. Niki cleared her throat and prepared to improvise. "Half- well, kind of?" She cleared her throat again, hands shaking. God, she thought to herself, it wasn't even a real conflict and she was practically crying. "I- I mean, my class is outside. We were walking by for a nature walk and I had to use the bathroom. Someone let me back here, but now I'm lost. Which way is the front?"

"What were you doing in that room?" Officer Davids narrowed his eyes.

Niki refused to make eye contact, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "I didn't go in, sir. I wanted to see if it went to the front or not, and I had to jump so I could see in the window."

"And what're you holding?" The skeptical look didn't leave just yet, but the officer was looking far less on edge when he saw she really was just a lost little girl on a school trip. At least in her lie, anyway.

"We're collecting leaves for an art project. D'you wanna see?" Niki crossed her fingers and prayed to any god there was in the stupid, big universe that Officer Davids was busy and didn't have a kid and didn't want to see some random kid's leaves because-

"Sure, why not?" He didn't look suspicious, and the accusatory look had been replaced with an almost fatherly one, but Niki panicked. He wanted to- shoot, he wanted to see the- 

With everything she had in her, Niki mentally screamed as loud as she could, projecting her panic and desperation into it. Outwardly, though, she smiled and opened it, bouncing back and forth while counting one..... two..... oh god, Eret please..... three..... four... he was starting to look suspicious as Niki rummaged through the papers..... five...

"Sally? Sally, are you in here?" A voice, distinctly Wilbur's, came shouting down the hall. He raced in, hitting Officer Davids at full speed and bounced right off, landing hard and probably hurting his wrist, judging by the way he gingerly held it after. A man raced around the corner, glaring at him. Niki sighed and closed the file shakily, thanking Eret with every fiber of her being. New discovery: Niki did not do well on the spot.

"Hey!" The man said angrily. Officer Davids turned to look at Wilbur.

"Is this one of your classmates, kiddo?" He offered Wilbur a hand. Wilbur took it and hopped to his feet, silently staring at Niki. She took that as an 'Are you okay' look and not a 'You are so dead' look, and nodded in response.

"Yeah, he's my best friend." Niki opted to ignore how Wilbur puffed up with pride. "I think I was gone too long."

"Alright, I'm sorry to have kept you." Officer Davids smiled, patting her on the shoulder. "I'll let Officer Jackson take you back out the front, alright?"

"Okay!" Niki grinned at him, trying to pretend her knees weren't jelly. She grabbed Wilbur's hand as they left the building, clutching the file to her chest with the other. If how tight she was holding him bothered Wilbur, he didn't say.

As soon as they were out, the rest of the group was all over them. Officer Jackson, apparently not one for kids, shooed them off and went back inside. They were grateful to get off the property.

"And you just... walked out with it?" George looked at Niki, impressed.

"I mean, yeah." She shrugged, passing it to Techno when he gestured for it. "Not like it's marked 'Top secret' in red block letters. I just grabbed it and left. Though I did get hung up a little on the leaving bit."

"Considering Eret fell over with shock when you called for him, I'd say you got more than a little hung up," Sam joked, nudging Niki good-naturedly. She giggled, giddy now that her short mission was over. Enough excitement for one day.

***

Hello again, reader.

Why do you think so little of me?

I am trying to be civil and tell the story as I believe I should, and yet here you all are saying you won't accept me as the narrator. This is how it was meant to be, readers. This is how it was meant to be.

I write to remember. I have known many stories over the course of my life, but none quite so vibrant as this.

Do you believe in the theory that there are billions of universes, stacked on top of each other? Do you think they are like tiny threads, or do you think they are thin layers? Do you think of them at all?

Your reality is just one of these. For every action that could have been done differently there are hundreds of universes where it was. I think it's fascinating, reader.

Think about it, really think. For every action, there is an infinite number of outcomes. And a universe for each outcome. Or maybe you don't believe in that theory, or you believe in a different version. Maybe you think there is a finite, countable number of universes. If so, where does it end? How many different actions are made? Is there a universe for each one?

But I'm rambling.

Goodbye for now, reader, and take this with you: everything is not always as it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also if anyone is confused by what's happening, go reread the narrator's notes on chapter 8 and compare them to the notes on chapter 31


	33. Chapter 33

The car ride to the airport was painfully tense. Nobody spoke or explained even part of what had happened. Tommy was burning with the need for answers, for someone to break the ringing silence and answer all his questions, but he was far too afraid to speak up.

It was only when Phil pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine that he turned around to address Tommy. "I'm assuming you're confused."

"I'm- of course I'm confused!" Tommy tried to keep his voice down, but judging by Eret's wince, it didn't work. "He- Ranboo- he just-- he just appeared in front of me! And you all- how'd you find me? I fucking- I was thrown from-" He choked back a sob, emotions finally rushing in to crush his chest like a tin can. "You can't- I didn't- I don't know what's happening."

"It's alright." Eret clucked softly, giving Tommy a hug. He shook it off with a glare. Just because he was crying didn't mean he wanted a hug from Eret of all people. He was like... ninety percent sure it was Eret who told everyone Tommy was trying to run away. Bitchass... he cut the thought short when Eret gave him a withering glare. Even thinking something rude felt bad. Goddamnit.

"Look," Phil said quietly, interrupting Tommy's annoyed inner monologue. "There's no good way to say this. You teleported. So did Ranboo, that's how we found you. He was jumping from place to place all over the forest."

The car felt too small. There wasn't enough air. There was obviously no logical explanation for what happened, but such a crazy story felt unreal. But was it a lie? It was a lie, it had to be. Tommy only realized he was shaking when Ranboo lay a solid hand on his shoulder. "You- I- that can't be true."

"It's true. I don't know if proving it to you would be... the best thing to do right now. I wasn't going to say anything until we got off the plane because you could be unstable and I don't want you to disappear again, but you're a person and we owe you at least this much."

Tommy laughed, sucking in the thinning air through a throat that felt shriveled and tiny. "That's not- it's not true."

Tommy's head spun, and he became vaguely aware of someone counting with him, trying to get him to take deep breaths. No, Tommy was fine, wasn't he? He was breathing, just too fast.

"Try and match my breathing," Phil said softly, taking one of Tommy's hands and trying to make eye contact. No, he didn't like eye contact, stop stop stop that- "Look at me, alright? Just pay attention to me."

"He's not comfortable with that," Eret said quietly. "I'm gonna step out, though, I think we're kind of... intruding."

Cold air rushed in when the doors opened. Tommy wasn't able to tell exactly who left, but it was only him and Phil in the car when the doors shut loudly. He blinked back tears, choking as he tried to breathe.

"Match my breathing. Close your eyes, count to ten with me. Ten."

"Nine," Tommy whispered hoarsely. 

"Eight."

"Se-seven-"

"You're doing great. Six."

"Five." Tommy scrunched his eyes shut, forcing himself to breathe slower. Slow, slow, slow, it was what Phil wanted.

"Four."

"Three."

"Two, you're doing fantastic."

"One."

"Alright, good. I'm proud of you for that." Phil nodded, releasing Tommy's hand. "Do you want to talk about the powers now or later?"

Powers. Tommy's eyes shot open when his heart rate spiked, trying to tell Phil to stop talking about it, but it was already too late. He was falling, falling, falling through a sea of black.

***

Hello once again, reader.

You all seem upset with me. Have I done something wrong in beginning to narrate this story? I don't believe I have. You give me a name, so early in my existence. Or maybe you speak of another. Either way, I know nothing of Arius. If you could focus on the story and refrain from name-calling, that would be preferred. Now, moving on.

I never fully considered why I would put this into the world in all its gruesome glory. Maybe it was to show people they can prevail through tragedy. Maybe it was because I felt sadistic. Maybe I'll never truly say, leave you hanging. That would be a shame, wouldn't it? I suppose someday I'll tell you, but today is not that day.

You enjoy the calm after the storm, but you don't know if the storm will ever end. Do you think it will? Do you think it will leave destruction in its wake, or the chance of regrowth, of repair? You must realize there is a long way to go, more to see. Maybe the calm will never come.

I suppose it is from me that you'll have to find out.

Til next time.

And take this with you: everything is not as it seems.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ty to grass for sitting in a vc and listening to hamilton while i wrote this chapter (and moth for attempting to make an Angst Writing playlist to replace it)

They didn't need Eret around to tell them something was wrong this time. Quackity's voice echoed through the house, making his brothers and friends jump up right away. Quackity wasn't one to get scared. Dream, George, and Sapnap knew that for a fact, and the others assumed it by the looks on their faces.

"Is everything okay?" Techno shouted down the stairs, as if he hadn't just herd a blood chilling scream. "We're coming down."

The group thundered down the stairs, though Niki more stumbled since she'd been sleeping curled up on George's bottom bunk. They hit the kitchen at full speed, practically wild as they scrambled to find Quackity.

It was Fundy who first noticed the door was open, and pushed outside. Quackity was laying on the grass, face pale and shell-shocked. He was mumbling quietly to himself, and if anyone spoke Spanish they'd recognize his words as a prayer. He wrung his hands, shoving away Sapnap when he knelt down with a concerned look. 

He looked up, eyes red and face blotchy. "He's here, he's here, he's here," Quackity muttered, eyes darting from friend to brother to friend again. 

"Who? Who's here? Bad?"

"No, the- he's-" Quackity choked out a sob, shakily pointing out to the woods. "He's there. He's- he's 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. He's dead and he's looking at me and he's-- he's 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 to me."

"He? Who? Quackity, snap out of it!" George shook him by the shoulders, frantic. "What's going on? Tell me what's wrong!"

"He's dead his ghost- he's there." Quackity stared, wide eyed, at a spot just over Techno's shoulder. "He's mad, he's mad, you need to run before he- before he-" Quackity leapt up and shoved Techno roughly to the side, herding everyone towards the kitchen door. "Run! Run! Go, move, all of you!"

"Why? What's he angry about?" Sam shouted over his shoulder. "What will stop him?"

"He wants justice! He's after- he's after--! He's- what?" Quackity's footsteps stuttered to a stop, and he turned back to the woods with a dazed look on his face. "He's after.... He's not..."

"He's not what? Goddamnit Quackity, you-!" Dream was held back by Techno. "What's going on?"

"He's- he's-" Quackity flinched back as if someone was running at him before crumpling to the ground. Nobody was able to catch him, as they had all wedged themselves in the door, but Wilbur was the first to get to him after.

"Is he dead?" George's voice was hollow, terrified.

"No, he's breathing. He just passed out. We should take him inside." Wilbur looked around, trying to find the mysterious person Quackity was speaking of. He was apparently dead, and not who Quackity expected him to be. 

The only sure thing was that something had just gonna horribly wrong.

***

George woke up with a pounding headache. Judging by the amount of people asleep and how dark the room was, it was probably after midnight. He sighed, climbing out of bed in search of water. Eret shifted in his sleep when George clambered over him, and George was reminded that everyone in the house was sleeping in one room. Which reminded him. He checked on Quackity quickly, finding him curled up on Sapnap's bunk with Sapnap and a lump that was probably Wilbur-sized, considering Eret was the only other person as tall and he was already accounted for.

Anyway. George yawned, padding down the hallway. He knew the spots to avoid that would creak on the stairs, which ones he should completely skip and which he should only step on for a fraction of a second. Enough sneaking around for after-hours snacks and one gets good at being quiet.

There was a quiet scuffing noise just as he reached the kitchen, and George brushed it off only to jump out of his skin a moment later when the sound of running water hit his ears. Whoever turned the faucet on muttered fiercely, washing something aggressively judging by the splashes.

George poked his head around the corner and had to shove down a scream at the scene that met him. Bad stood in front of the sink, in full light, washing his hands. Blood dripped from them, staining the water red. He covered up a swear, how he usually did, but George found himself considering it, for the first time, an actual curse instead of a funny little cover up. 

"Stupid freakin'--" He muttered, squeezing more soap onto his red-stained hands. "Can't believe my luck, found it again! God." He shook his head with annoyance. 

George held his breath, tiptoeing back and praying with everything he had that Bad wouldn't decide to look back. He backed up, finally releasing the breath when he made it to the first step.

However, he celebrated too early. He bumped into Techno as soon as he hit the first step. "Oh, Techno, don't go that way, dad's- he's washing blood off his hands." George hated how his voice shook on the last few words. There was no time to dwell on it.

"It's fine, I'm not going to the kitchen."

"Okay, stay safe." George held back a sleepy giggle when Techno stumbled on the last step before turning in the direction of the downstairs bathroom. There was one upstairs, but in his sleepy state he must have forgotten. 

Entirely forgetting water, George clambered back into his bed and let his head float up to the stars as he slipped deeper into the comfort.

***

Hello, once again.

I am not Arius. I do not know who Arius is. There is no "me", I am only the writer of the story. I am not involved with you, or the events unfolding.

...Maybe I am nothing at all.

ɯɐ I oɥʍ ʍouʞ I

But back to you, any and all of you. You are far braver than me, reading a story with no clue of the outcome. Life exists to end, does it not? Perhaps that's a bleak outlook. Perhaps. I find it's easier to read a story knowing there is no open ending, that it resolves neatly. Whether or not I like the ending, I prefer to have one.

Several people asked me if I remember a friend, a past life, anything about myself. There is no "me", reader. Nothing about me is material, real. I know not even my surroundings. I live in a world of confusion.

But enough about me. If you had all the time in the world, what would you do with it?

Til next we meet.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *aggressively projects onto tommy*

Phil blinked. He couldn't believe- did they have to go on another wild goose chase? Did he have to- his eyes pricked with tears, but he wiped them away quickly. There was an aching kind of upset in his chest; he'd spent so long stressing over Tommy only to find him and then... poof. Gone. Just like that.

"Did he...?" Eret leaned forward in her seat. "Did he really just...?"

"Yeah." Phil's voice was embarrassingly choked. He leaned back and pulled out his phone, regret making his limbs feel heavy as lead. He navigated to the phone app, not particularly excited to have to break the news to Techno, Wilbur, even Tubbo. Word of mouth would do plenty of the work for him, but his sons deserved to hear first hand.

Phil's finger was hovering over the button, silently building up confidence to call, when his phone actually rang. He yelped with shock and dropped it, and it bounced once before slipping between the two seats. George, ever-helpful, pushed them apart so Phil could grab the phone, then molded them back to the way they'd been. He answered just before it rang out.

"Hello?"

"He's here, dad. Tommy's back." Techno's voice was relieved.

A collective breath was let out from everyone in the car. Ranboo laughed, though nothing was funny, he just needed to get it out of his system. Phil couldn't fault him, the kid put his own health aside for Tommy's well-being. "He's alright?"

He could practically hear Techno's nod through the phone. "He's alright."

***

Tommy could hear Phil's heavy sigh of relief, even though he wasn't on speaker. Techno's mouth quirked up into a grin and he gestured for Tommy to come closer. "Say something, he'll love it."

"I- h-hello?" Tommy's voice cracked. Badly. Techno snorted, turning away. Tommy flushed red with annoyance and also turned. "Don't be a bitch about it, you asshole. I just got back from a life or death experience." He gestured dramatically.

"Yeah, yeah. Take a shower and contemplate it there, I need to catch up with dad before he gets on the plane, alright?"

"Sure." Tommy shrugged and jogged up the stairs, though he stayed on the landing just long enough to hear a pause, then a sigh of relief and a quiet "No, dad, I'm just as glad as you are that he's home safe," from Techno.

\---

Tommy towel dried his hair and, for lack of anything else to wear, threw on the same clothes he'd been wearing for the past several days. He poked his head out of the bathroom, shivering in the suddenly cold air, and took the steps two at a time.

Techno apparently wasn't in the living room. Tommy shrugged, grabbing a banana, and went back up. He almost just walked into his own room, but something gave him pause. He'd never actually... seen Techno's room. Once or twice in passing, sure, but that wasn't even close to being inside. So... he stepped up to the door, noting the green paint splatter (marked with a "Sam was here" in bold pencil letters underneath), and knocked on it.

There came the sound of someone aggressively hitting a spacebar once. "Hello?"

"Just me. Can I come in?" Tommy leaned into the door, but didn't quite touch it. Even without leaning, however, he managed to fall directly into Techno's chest when it was pulled open. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes, it's a yes." Techno rolled his eyes and turned. "Close the door behind you. Or don't. I don't care, Wil's not home right now."

"Right." Tommy kicked it closed with his right foot and turned in a full circle. "You have a lot of posters."

He was right. Techno's room was lined with posters. Some bands he half-recognized, like Nirvana, and the lettering on others was so warped he couldn't begin to try and puzzle it out. The whole place was overwhelming. The walls seemed to be a mustard yellow, but it had been painted on multiple times. If he squinted, Tommy was sure he'd be able to find the culprit's names written in pencil somewhere.

But what really caught his eye was the things. The sheer amount of them. Techno's shelves were covered with shiny things, dull things, big things, small things. From thimbles to ear gauges (though they definitely weren't Techno's) to shitty carnival toys, this room had it all. Tommy gaped for a minute, trying to take in his surroundings. Techno set aside his black headphones and spun in the desk chair, swearing softly when he banged his knee on an open dresser drawer.

"I'm assuming you don't care for rock music?"

"I wouldn't know," Tommy said plainly, now interested in a deep purple crystal. It reflected the soft lamplight beautifully. He didn't dare touch it, though. "I'm not very into.... music, I guess."

"Not into music?" Techno sounded like he was in shock. "Oh, Toms, that's a crime."

"Don't call me that," Tommy said, though without any real fire behind the words. Something about the nickname being used in such a setting felt... alright. Nice, even. But... he was trouble enough. Nothing lasted forever, and good things always find their end eventually. Tommy perched on the edge of the bed.

"Right, right..." Techno turned to his computer and started furiously typing. "We are one hundred percent playing you music tonight. It's- that's- jesus, you should have just torn my heart out. C'mon, man."

Tommy stood to look over Techno's shoulder, and found his computer was open to Spotify. There were several playlists up, including... Tommy snickered. "Phil's Old Man Music", "Techno's Best Music Taste Ever Fuck You Guys", and "Wilbur's Sadboy Songs He Sings In The Shower At 3 Am (Seriously Stop Doing That)"

It kind of made his heart ache, but Tommy was distracted when Techno started a new playlist. He paused, fingers poised over the keys, and for a second Tommy wondered what funny name he might get. His hopes were squashed when the playlist ended up being named "Tommy's Songs". Probably had to earn the name, but it stung to see that between all the witty titles everyone else got.

He wasn't given long to dwell on it, luckily, because Techno immediately pulled up YouTube, turning to Tommy. "What do you know you like? As in... any music you don't hate? Something you bop to? Ignore the cringe term, I've been spending too much time with dad."

Tommy chuckled away the twinge in his gut at "dad" being used so casually. He wasn't sure why it was suddenly hitting him so hard. He was fine without a dad for years, fine without a family, he didn't need-

"You okay?" Techno's voice brought Tommy out of his own head and he found his eyes were prickling with unshed tears.

"I- um-" Honesty? Should he be honest? Everything in Tommy screamed no, wrong, bad, lie, you're fine, but the look on Techno's face was nothing but empathy and concern. "No."

His voice broke and Techno opened his arms, letting Tommy fall into them. "It's okay, you've had a rough day. You'll be alright."

After a moment of quiet breathing, punctuated only by the occasional sniffle, Techno reached over and selected one of the playlists. If Tommy had to guess, it was Techno's own, judging by the heavy drum intro. He wanted to be sad in silence, but when the chorus hit and Techno started humming along, he felt safe. The words might as well have been gibberish, but goddamnit if the guitar wasn't catchy. He nodded to the beat in silence.

"You like this one?" Techno sounded a little surprised.

"Yeah," Tommy admitted. "It's good."

"Hm." If there was one sound that embodied raising one's eyebrows, that was it and Techno nailed it spot-on. Tommy could have laughed, but he suddenly realized the situation he was in and broke into fresh tears. What the fuck. He was sitting in his foster sibling's (?) room, crying into his shoulder and listening to rock music after teleporting all the way home from fucking Montana after learning he had powers and that they only told him because he was stuck in a forest alone for days.

Techno noticed the change in attitude, and turned the volume down, but Tommy shook his head. "...want it higher?"

Tommy just nodded, trying to get the stupid tears to stop coming out of his goddamn eyes. When the volume went up, the drums pounded along with his heartbeat, setting a rhythm he was happy to match. The song switched and the lead singer, now a girl, wailed into the microphone about her life falling apart around her. Tommy let the words swirl through his head, letting Techno move them both to the floor so Tommy wasn't practically sitting in his lap anymore.

Jeez, that was going to be embarrassing in the morning. Tommy would say he'd never live it down, but... something in him whispered that Techno wasn't the judgemental type when it came to stuff like this.

So he just took a deep breath and shifted only slightly, feeling Techno's chest rise and fall, hearing him whisper the lyrics along with his songs. It was safe. It was warm. It felt more like home than Tommy could ever have imagined.

***

Don’t trust someone when you can tell they’re withholding information. It may sound obvious, but it’s important nonetheless. Do with that what you will.

Til next we speak


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was so awkward to writeeee and my notes for this chapter were literally just "another body is on the news. eret is out of commission." and that's IT so sorry for the short chapter yall they're gonna get longer

Everything was fine until Dream burst into the room, white faced and clearly terrified. He was breathing too hard to speak, holding up one hand in a "Just one second" gesture. Eret was still asleep, curled up in the same position he'd been in for the past while. 

"What's going on?" Wilbur asked quietly, pausing in his french braiding lesson from Niki. (She'd seen him fidgeting and Techno didn't like brushing his hair and nobody wanted to pester Bad for a haircut, so she killed two birds with one stone and sat Wilbur down.)

"News," Dream choked out between deep breaths. "I just- news."

"The.... oh, shit." Realization dawned on George's face and he leapt up. "It's another murder, isn't it?"

Dream nodded. George swore and pushed past his brother and down the steps. Techno shook off Niki and Wilbur before jogging after him, wanting to get the details. Everyone quickly followed, whispering among themselves.

They missed the segment entirely, but at least they knew it had been on. "Niki, think you could...?"

"Yeah, let's go." Niki grabbed her coat, which she'd set down at the kitchen table last time they visited the police station, and tugged it on. Fundy followed her lead, pulling on his own jacket. Dream jogged up the stairs and came back down with a hoodie. "Do we need everyone?"

"I think we're alright this time. Right?" Fundy looked around the group. Nobody answered. "Okay, cool. Someone go wake up Eret and tell him what's happening, we'll be home in an hour tops."

"Got it." Sam saluted, herding the rest of the group up the stairs before anyone could protest.

Quackity stood at the landed, brow furrowed. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and yawned. "What's goin' on?"

That halted everyone in their tracks. Quackity had passed out and not woken up again the day before. They'd been considering talking to Bad but got the feeling it would be better if he didn't know one of his sons could speak to the dead and found out he was the killer. 

"Another body. Niki's going to get the file since we missed the news."

"His name was Robert Wade. Late twenties-early thirties. Brown hair." Quackity rubbed at his eyes. "That's fucked up, man. I don't wanna know that." He sounded nonchalant despite his words, until Niki glanced down and noticed Quackity's hand was clenching the fabric of his jeans painfully tight. She sighed.

"Powers aren't always fun," She said softly. "You'll get used to them, someday. For now just rest."

He gave her a weak smile and turned to walk with the rest of the group when Sapnap lay a reassuring hand on his back. If there was one thing they did, Niki thought proudly, it was support. Quackity would be just fine.

***

This time was far easier than the last with Niki's new knowledge of the building and realization that she could move through walls with the file if she had it clutched to her chest. In and out in less than ten minutes. This time they'd thought to bring a binder, a blue one, and pick up some leaves along the way so it looked like they actually had a reason to be in the area again.

Niki tucked the file into the back of the binder and let Fundy carry it, picking up a leaf or two before they passed out of view of the police station and were able to drop the act. She wanted to read it right then, hands practically twitching with the want for the information. She'd never been able to stand an unfinished puzzle. But Niki would have to wait. They couldn't read a stolen murder file in the middle of the street in broad daylight. Obviously.

Finally, with little to no conversation between the three of them, they made it home. Dream held open the door with a little extra flourish, but neither Niki nor Fundy had it in them to giggle. It was too serious of a moment.

"We're back!" Niki called up the stairs, tossing her jacket on the back of a chair again. "From the..." Was Bad home? Better to play it safe. "Nature walk!"

"Niki, come upstairs. Now." Wilbur stood at the landing, face pale. "Something's wrong with Eret."

"Something... Eret?" Niki shot up with surprising speed, almost knocking into Wilbur. "What happened? He was just sleeping, right?" A bit of her dreaded he hadn't just been sleeping.

"He's not dead." Wilbur put a comforting hand on her shoulder and Niki sagged with relief, heart rate slowing ever so slightly. Dream appeared behind them, Fundy with the binder right on his heels. Wilbur nodded when he noticed them, as a way of greeting. "He just won't wake up. Like, he's breathing, just... look."

He opened the door and stepped out of the way, letting Fundy, Dream, and Niki inside. They stood awkwardly in the door, cheeks flushed from the cold outside, smelling of clean air, and staring down their friend, who most certainly was not okay. Sapnap was shaking his shoulders none-so-gently, time for whispers and silly wake up scares long gone. 

Eret was drenched with water, and when Niki looked she was sure she'd find the cup they used to splash him with somewhere on the carpet, forgotten as soon as it didn't work. "What's happened?"

"I thought he was just sleeping?" Fundy tilted his head.

"He won't get up." Techno's face was white as a sheet. "Bad did this. He... I just know this is the killer's fault. Don't ask me how, but this is his doing. We won't be able to know what he's thinking anymore."

Niki went pale with the realization. "We're as good as blind."

***

Hello.

It seems you all feel you cannot trust me. I understand, I suppose. I likely wouldn't trust me either, in this situation. But this is a short time in my life, one that will be gone in the blink of an eye, taking you all with it, and I refuse to feel bad for that.

I do not know what my passions were, or what they are supposed to be. I do not remember I've lost all anchor to personhood, dear reader.

Maybe I am not greater than you after all. Maybe I am less.

Maybe I just need sleep.

On that note, l̵̨̛̩͕͈̹̞͓̦̘͌ȯ̵̜̺̳͓̩͈̞̿̕ɹ̸̡͉̹̭̭̯̽͛̽̊̑͊͋ʇ̵̤̙̼͕̱̆͘ȕ̴͍̭o̷̤̯̝̕ɔ̴̻̺̦̤̠̲̅̉͐͗̓̐͜͝ uı ʇou ɯɐ I, I shall say my goodbyes for now.


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> headcanons let's GO 
> 
> to my discord buddies.... ily keep doing what you're doing unless you're toelicker420 in which case i own your spine (/j) and also yes im stealing some of the headcanons from the au&hc channel they're *good* ok

Tommy lay on his bed, utterly exhausted. The past few hours had been an insane blur, from watching Ranboo teleport right in front of him to teleporting himself to ending up curled up on the floor of Techno's room- it felt like so much. Luckily, Techno seemed to understand. Once Tommy's eyes were dry, he handed him a paintbrush, some half-empty tubes of paint, and a plastic plate with dried globs of color all over it. Tommy had been confused for a moment before Techno pointed him to an empty part of the wall and turned up the music to full volume.

That? That was heaven. Nobody there to judge him. At first, Tommy had held back, but Techno picked up a brush of his own and soon they were painting a landscape together. Tommy dotted out the hillsides and where the sun lay, then a little cabin. He was no artist by any means, but Techno added depth and highlights to the flat painting, making it beautiful and lifelike. He added a few people running across the grass, leaves floating along on a soft breeze, and a ladder leading up into an apple tree, at the bottom of which a full basket sat. Tommy could practically smell the clean air, hear the giggles of the kids as they tried to find crickets in the tall grass.

By the end, Tommy found that Techno had apparently been paying attention. "Tommy's Songs" had over twenty songs on it. He looked suspiciously at it and Techno just shrugged. "Hey," He said casually. "I could tell when you were enjoying them." He mixed a lighter tone, humming along as he put the finishing touches on the smoke curling from the roof of the little house. Techno leaned back and grinned at the wall, gap in his teeth showing prominently. Tommy didn't realize he had one. For some reason, it fit.

"I..." Tommy took a deep breath. "I feel a lot better now, thank you. I.... I really needed this."

"Of course." Techno set a hand on his shoulder. "If you're ever bored, you're welcome to hang out with me. Hell, maybe someday you'll be able to play in the famous Watson Band. Phil's already the lead singer but I bet you could rock the bass guitar."

Tommy narrowed his eyes, unable to tell if he was joking.

"I'm only half kidding," Techno said as if he'd read Tommy's mind. He set down the paint covered plate and threw himself onto the bed, landing right next to his phone. "Wil's great on guitar, I used to play the drums, and Phil... well, he at least tries to sing."

"Wow." Tommy took a seat in the desk chair, grinning. "You've gotta have a better name than the Watson Band, though. That's so lame."

"Hey, I just gave you free wall space to use and you're calling the band lame? Dude." Techno nudged him with a foot, getting a laugh. "I'm just kidding. We've never formally come up with one, we only played all together once at Bad's place. Quackity and Dream share the drums and I'm pretty sure Sapnap has a bass kicking around somewhere in storage. Once we went over for dinner and the band was born."

"Does anyone else play an instrument?" Tommy leaned forward, watching Techno power off his phone with an amused look.

"Of course. Niki's great on acoustic guitar, and I'm like ninety percent sure Schlatt has something loud and electric. As does Minx, but neither of them will admit it. Um... Fundy played the violin back in the middle school days... and I'm pretty sure Purpled can carry a tune." Techno shrugged. "Why? Interested in learning?"

"I'm not very good with that kind of stuff." Tommy shrugged, grinning awkwardly. "Besides, wouldn't want to impede on the family band, y'know? That's your thing, none of my business."

"Hey, you're a part of the family." Techno poked Tommy with his foot again. "Dad would love to see you playing an instrument. You know how dads are."

"He's not my dad, alright?" Tommy sighed. "Everyone's rushing me. I'm not ready, and I'm certainly not staying very long after this. If I called him my dad I'd just be setting myself up for failure." He froze, words dying in his throat. "I didn't mean to say that much."

"Toms, we're not sending you back." Techno sat up, frowning. "You do know that, right? Phil hasn't fostered in years. You're right for this family, we all know it. Whether or not you're ready to add more to our little group just yet, you're going to eventually."

"How do you know?" Tommy's eyes pricked with sudden tears. There was a shocking rush of relief that came with being told he fit, he was right for them, they weren't sending him back. Still, his immediate reaction was to be distrustful. "How do you know he won't send me home?"

"Because he's my dad. I'd know if he didn't like you. He ran himself into the goddamn ground trying to find you when you disappeared. I don't think he's actually slept in days. Not your fault, of course, but he was so worried that you would be hurt."

"I'm sorry."

"I told you, it's not your fault." Techno moved to sit on the edge of the bed, putting his hands on Tommy's shoulders. "Nobody's letting you go again, alright? Pretty soon you'll have to sneak out at midnight to smoke by the 7-11 because everyone's so damn close in this house."

Tommy laughed breathlessly. The air had been knocked from his lungs with that sentence. They weren't letting him go. Another flood of tears threatened to break the dam he'd finally managed to build up. Just before it shattered and he was sent flying into his foster brother's arms again, the doorbell rang.

Tommy jumped, and Techno hurried to the front door. He turned back for a second. "I'm gonna warn you, if this is who I think it is you're going to be smothered by hugs. I suggest you be careful." He unlocked and opened the door.

"How can someone smother you with-"

"Tommy!" Someone shouted, launching themself at him. Tommy was thrown back, almost falling over the back of the couch. He looked down in shock, met with brown curls. Ah, Tubbo. He grinned, awkwardly patting his friend's (?) head. "You're back!"

"I'm back," He said quietly.

Emotion hit him like a sack of bricks once everyone else came in, leaving Tommy partially stunned. Puffy nodded at him, noticing how uncomfortable Tommy looked, and he immediately felt better. Karl grinned at him, waving slightly.

"I'm glad you're back, man." Connor shook his hand firmly. "Mom was hiding in her office 'cause she couldn't handle all the emotion. It's nice to see you're safe, honest. We're all glad."

"I second that," Minx said with a hand raise. "I don't really... know you, but I've heard some stories."

Tommy laughed. "Good or bad?"

"Wilbur told them to me."

Tommy's good mood deflated just a little. "Oh."

"But Tubbo also told me some while we were waiting for you! I heard you're good at math, right?" Minx looked apologetic, and Tommy let her feel better.

"Well, I wouldn't say good, but I'm passing."

That broke the tension. Techno lay an affirming hand on Tommy's shoulder, making him feel a little less nervous. "So, if we're all done harassing Tommy, does anyone want snacks? We've got plenty."

***

A few hours went by, and Tommy found himself in the best mood he'd been in for.... months, if he was being honest. He'd never really noticed it, but Techno and Wilbur's friends were funny. Several times he ended up howling with laughter (and had to be assured multiple times his laugh wasn't annoying), while others he was sitting with his legs drawn up to his chest, amused grin playing across his face while Minx and Conner bantered back and forth with practiced skill.

He was kind of waiting for powers to be brought into the conversation. Tommy wasn't surprised when he heard Techno clear his throat and start to recount the tale of the first time he discovered his power. Tubbo fell into a fit of laughter after the first few words, apparently recognizing the story, before spurring him on with a "go ahead" motion. Karl giggled for a second before regaining his calm and letting Techno carry on.

"Okay, so anyways, we're having a perfectly nice time, the sun is shining the birds are singing, you know the drill. We're sitting under this overpass, right, and out of nowhere this guy comes up with a beer bottle and a certain stumble to his walk and we're all going oh jesus, this is it this is the end, right? He goes to hit me and I, like the dumbass I am, try to trip him and also try to run backwards," He turned to Tommy, fighting back a grin. "That never ends well, by the way. Anyhow, he slices the shit out of my neck. And every starts freaking out, going 'oh my god he's going to die', but I'm perfectly fine? They get the guy to leave and I'm sitting there, just bleeding out on the sidewalk but I can already feel it healing, like I am going to be completely okay, but everyone is crouched over me sobbing and they think I died but I can't just pretend to be dead, right?"

Tommy snickered. "Right."

"So I've gotta sit up and tell them I'm perfectly fine and Niki- I swear to god this is so funny looking back- she takes a swing at me from behind! Like, she just saw me die, and now she's trying to smack me back into the afterlife when I reveal I'm actually okay?"

Tommy buried his face in his knees, laughing.

"And Wilbur- oh my god, he's never letting this go, but any time I ask him for a favor he just says he brought me back from the dead as if it isn't my power. Never get a brother on purpose, I wear to god."

"And a sister is better?" Connor dodged a smack from Minx. "I get chased around with a butter knife if I so much as move her favorite cup!"

"You-!" Minx leapt up, chasing Connor from the room. "Get back here, you little bitch!"

Puffy sighed, fondly grinning into her hand. "I put up with this daily."

"A wonder you don't go mad," Karl said with a fake accent. Tommy giggled at the dirty look Karl got, before whipping his head around at the sound of a knock on the door. It opened slowly, revealing Phil, Ranboo, Eret, and George.

"Hey!" Karl leapt up. "My saviors. Well, Tommy's saviors, but you just saved me from a mom lecture."

"I wasn't going to lecture you, wait!" Puffy tossed her arms up. "I can't do anything in this house." Her words were harsh, but a smile was dancing across her lips. Tommy ached, seeing how she acted with her kids. A mom. A parent. A good one.

Speaking of which... he looked over to Phil. Phil, who had deep purple bags under his eyes. Phil, who had apparently run himself ragged trying to find Tommy. Phil, who put up with him and didn't intend to stop. Phil, the first person who had fostered him in years.

"Tommy, could you come with me?"

The room went silent. He'd been half expecting hoots and whistles of "You're in trouble!", but everyone went quiet as Tommy stood, heart in his throat, and followed Ranboo and Eret. 

Eret closed the door to the guest room, not bothering to lock it. They looked to Phil and nodded, stepping back a little. He recognized it was Phil and Tommy's time to talk. Tommy waited, stomach twisted in knots, to hear what Phil had to say.

In the end, he didn't say anything, just opened his arms. Tommy's eyes pooled with tears for at least the seventh time in the day and he gratefully fell into the hug. Fuck guarding himself. He wanted the comfort of a real, actual embrace again. Techno's hugs were fantastic, but apparently nothing beat a Phil hug. He sighed, burrowing into the warmth, until he felt Phil silently shaking. 

"Are you okay?" Tommy back up, suddenly anxious. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course, not, you're perfectly fine." Phil sounded choked up. "Just... I needed that today. Jeez," He laughed, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "I really need to sleep more."

"Sorry about disappearing. I didn't- I didn't mean to. Teleport, or whatever. What happened, actually?" Tommy suddenly realized he'd been brought aside for answers. Maybe Phil wanted them from him, maybe he wanted to give them to Tommy. Either way it might shed some light on the situation.

"You teleported, yes. Maybe not exactly like Ranboo does, but your powers are likely very similar. You can talk to him later. You mentioned feeling like we're hiding something, I remember that, and it's because we were. We had to."

Tommy furrowed his brow. "Had to?"

"My ability is gauging people's power levels. You were off the charts right away, and if you found out and became unstable we had no idea what you might do. It was for everyone's safety as well as your own."

"So all those weird things that kept happening? Those were because of...? I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time believing this." Tommy half huffed and half laughed, still fidgeting with nerves.

"It's alright, it's not easy to get. But you're catching on! Those times you saw odd things, the reality switches, those were accidental mix-ups on our parts."

Tommy nodded slowly. "I'll be honest, I kind of knew something was always off. Like there was an aura or something around people, I don't know. It seems so weird to think about, but like right now? Eret's got a pretty strong aura. It's kinda... purple? Or maybe royal blue? I can't tell."

"You..." Phil turned to look at Eret. "Tommy, you-" He turned back to face Tommy and held up one finger. "I'll be right back. Eret, would you mind coming out into the hallway with me for a second?"

Eret nodded and the two left. Suddenly, for the first time since he arrived home (god, he was even thinking of it as home), Tommy felt like he was out of place.

***

I'm sorry I've been answering your questions less. You all seem to hate me for no good reason. I've done nothing that could possibly anger you besides be myself, and here you are accusing me of lying, of covering something up. There is nothing to hide.

I remember nothing. I don't have a past or a future. Everything is fuzzy, dark. It's not me you should be focusing on, reader.

T̴̼̬̀h̵̰̫͓̬̭̫̦̪̑̑̊î̷̢̢̙̥̭̺͚͛̊̾̊̚͜s̴̳̻̗̪̞̮̅̔̈̅̕͘͝ ̷͓͔̻̲̪̒̾͝͝į̵̨̰̥̗̥͓̠̞̯͋̍̽̋͗̊s̸̖͎̝͈̠̄͐̆͛̚͝n̶̛̻͉͒̈́͒͂̈́͆̋͑ͅ'̸̜͙͙̣̞̟͚̍̀̎̈͐͂ẗ̷͖͐̓ ̶̳͍̥̯̻͉͕͇͑̇̋̀͆̃̉̈͠͠m̸͚̋̀̑e̸̤̹̠̺̤̞̮̪̬͌̾̈́͗̃̑͊̉ͅ,̷̛̲ ̸͕̠̞͇̼̠̟̖͓̟̈̀̀̑̋̑į̴̛̗̮̻̻̭̞̪̦̓̈t̵̰͔̺̹͙̣̽̍̇̓͆̇̚̚̚'̶̨̙͕͔̣̥̘͑̿̋̂ş̶̅̈̒̾͂͑ ̶̙͖͉͎͇̹̳̃͒͌͒͘̕n̸̖̦̈̏̋̈́̽o̴͚̜̰͚̺̪͇͓̍ť̶̹͛̈́̌͜ ̸̨̞̘͕̄ͅm̸͙̲̤̺̓͑̂̊̇͝͝ē̸̡̯̙̈̏͒͝,̸̥̙̙̱̟̱̙͈ ̷̡̛͍̻̦͔͕̜̦̠̺́̃i̵̡̘̞͛̇̈́̉͠͝t̶͔̟̙̹̯̣̗̼̑̉

ă̶͉̈́͑̉͂̈́̈́͆͒ͅṙ̶̯͎͓̬̪̀͒̎͠i̴̧̢̤̜̜̙̭̦̎͂̂͒͊̄̆u̷̡͖̰͍̞̣̲̅̂s̸̡̮͇͈̳̝͒͌͒̂̋̐̓̕͝ ̵͚̂̔̑̽͆͝ͅį̵̛̯̭̱̙͍̦̿͋́͊͒s̶̲̯̼̦̭̞̎̑̓̿̚̚n̷̛̼̙̞̩̫͒̂͐̏̐'̸̺̯̹̟̈́̅̋͂̑͐͠t̴̛̲̯̗̜̜̿̂͑̐̿ ̵̩̮̺̯͎͙̖̀̆̑̆͂͒̐̚͠ͅs̷̡̠͕͍̳̞̠͗̌͐͠a̶̡̻̘͂̄̋̍͐͑̌f̷̡͖̰͉̖̱̞̙̦͐̐̆͛̊̈́̽e̷͓̜͈̥͓̲̱̋̀͆͜ ̶͌͐͐̏̌̈͋̃ͅḁ̸͕̳̻̰͓͚͚̇̅͜r̶̬͖̽̐̽̉͑ỉ̵̖̩̑̽u̵̟͎͓͙̳͍͐͒͐̄̒͛̓̉̕̚͜s̶̥̤̜͒̿̄ ̷̥̖̗͙͖͔̤̪̺͚̾͊͛͂̆̉̈͂̐̚ĭ̶̟̗̼͇̪̗͍̋̽̋͠s̵̼̾̂͋͑͠ ̶̛͎̰͙̖̉̈́́̎̽͘m̶̨̳̦̩͔̳̞͛̌͑̀͒́͗e̴͎̝̼̟͛̈͑̅̊͘ ̷̧̙̍̌̎ǹ̶̨̨̩͉̝͍̞̹ͅő̸̤̳̟̼́̔̓ţ̵͉̞͍̩̺̫̝͒̃͋͝ ̶̢̡͉̠̜͕͇̳̘̗͋ī̷̧͉͉̦̫̗͈̼͕̀̀̈́́̅͘͜͝t̵̖͕͎̼̥̱̪̍ ̵̪̠͖̰̣̑̑̄̾́̔̔͠ͅȋ̴͕̮̂ ̷̜̟̹̹̗͔͇̣̱̞͂̄͆͛̈̎̐͂͘͠a̷͔͖͌͆̕͜m̸̻̟̲̱͠ ̴̨̘̖̠̜͆̐̉̈́̓̐̒ả̶͙̣͚̃͐̏̒̓̊͌͝ŗ̷̼̎͋̃̇͑̅͂͐̈͌ï̸̢̨̯̻̱̻̦͇ů̸͓͕̬͓͈̂͊s̸̻̒̇̈̈

........

.....................

Lark called me Erethe today. I quite like the name, if I'm being completely honest with you. It feels nice. It may help you separate me from this Arius if you decide to call me by a real name. Stop calling me Berta. 

....

I have no new wisdom for you, reader.

Til next we speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapters like this remind me of why i picked up writing fanfics in the first place. i had a blast with it and it didn't at all feel like i was forcing myself to write! :D


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